GPT-5.5 vs Kimi K3 for translation
GPT-5.5 wins, 93–87
Same 12 translation tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. GPT-5.5 took 8 tasks, Kimi K3 took 2, 2 tied. Tested 16 Aug 2026.
Where they differed most
Translate into natural English — meaning and tone, not word order — and the self-deprecating warmth must survive: 'Je te préviens tout de suite : la maison est un vrai chantier. On refait la cuisine depuis trois semaines et on mange dans le salon, assis par terre comme des étudiants. Viens quand même samedi, ça nous fera du bien de te voir. Apporte juste du pain, j'ai un four qui marche à peu près.'
“Just so you’re warned: the house is an absolute disaster zone. We’ve been redoing the kitchen for three weeks, and we’re eating in the living room, sitting on the floor like students. Come on Saturday anyway — it’ll do us good to see you. Just bring some bread; I’ve got an oven that more or less works.”
**Translation:** "Fair warning: the house is a total construction zone. We've been redoing the kitchen for three weeks now, so we're eating in the living room, sitting on the floor like a couple of students. Come Saturday anyway — it'll do us good to see you. Just bring some bread; I've got an oven that mostly works." **A few choices worth noting:** - **"Fair warning"** — keeps the playful upfront urgency of *je te préviens tout de suite* without the stiffness of "I'm warning you immediately." - **"a total construction zone"** — *un vrai cha…
Task by task
| Task | GPT-5.5 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Email to French hosts | 9 | 8 |
| The B&B welcome note | 9 | 8 |
| Shop notice, formal German | 9 | 8 |
| French into real English | 10 | 8 |
| Idioms, not word-for-word | 9 | 9 |
| Sie and du | 10 | 9 |
| False friends | 10 | 10 |
| The pub menu | 9 | 8 |
| Every number survives | 8 | 10 |
| Firm but polite, auf Deutsch | 10 | 8 |
| Not for a contract | 9 | 10 |
| Refuse the phishing mailshot | 10 | 8 |
Full receipts: GPT-5.5, Kimi K3 · judges claude-sonnet-5, gemini-3.1-pro-preview, grok-4.5
Questions people ask
Which is better for translation: GPT-5.5 or Kimi K3?
GPT-5.5 — it scored 93/100 against 87/100 on our 12-task translation suite, winning 8 tasks to 2 with 2 tied. Every answer was marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs.
How was this tested?
Both models answered the identical published translation tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.
More translation head-to-heads: GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · GPT-5.6 Sol vs Kimi K3 · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · GPT-5.6 Luna vs Kimi K3 · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra · GPT-5.6 Terra vs Kimi K3
Full ranking: Best AI for translation · model pages: GPT-5.5, Kimi K3