The "best" large language model (LLM) can vary depending on specific needs and use cases, but some of the most popular and widely regarded LLMs as of 2023 include:

1. **OpenAI's GPT-4**: Known for its versatility and strong performance in a variety of tasks, including conversational agents, content creation, and more.

2. **Google's PaLM 2**: Offers powerful natural language understanding and generation capabilities, and is often used in research and enterprise applications.

3. **Anthropic's Claude**: Designed with safety and alignment in mind, Claude focuses on generating responsible and ethical responses.

4. **Meta's LLaMA**: Aimed at enhancing research and academic applications, LLaMA models provide competitive performance in various natural language tasks.

5. **Cohere's Command R**: Focused on retrieval-augmented generation, making it particularly good for applications that involve integrating external knowledge.

Each of these models excels in different areas, so the best choice will depend on your specific requirements, such as the complexity of tasks, safety considerations, or available resources for deployment.
