Stanford study finds 44% of widely cited LLM claims have already expired

Key points

• Owen Queen and James Zou tested 50 claims against 20 models released between July 2024 and September 2026.
• Among 22 findings with an estimated expiration date, the average lifespan was just 15.7 months.
• Claims about model limitations expire fastest, with five of nine reasoning-related findings considered expired.
• Findings about preferences and tendencies, such as sycophancy and self-preference, have lasted longer.

Why it matters for marketers: Date and name the model behind any LLM claim you publish, since 39 percent of tested findings had expired within two years.