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AI Model Inkling 2 Small Challenges Chinese Dominance
6 Nov
Summary
- Inkling 2 Small, an AI model by Thinking Machines, challenges Chinese dominance.
- The model supports image inputs and excels in coding and web design.
- It boasts 594 billion parameters and aims for release next week.
A new open AI model named Inkling 2 Small has been released by Thinking Machines, an AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. This model, featuring 594 billion parameters, is designed to compete with the leading open models, which have predominantly come from China.
Inkling 2 Small supports image inputs but exclusively outputs text. The company highlighted its proficiency in web and game design, as well as its coding abilities. Third-party testing shows the model scoring 31 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, a score competitive with models like Gemini 3.8 Flash.
The release follows a common practice of testing and safety reviews before making the model's weights publicly available, which is planned for next week. This staggered release method is also being used by French AI lab Mistral for its Le Chonk model. Inkling 2 Small is anticipated to become the highest-scoring open weights model developed outside of China.
Despite its strengths, Inkling 2 Small is noted for being slow per task and verbose. Its pricing of $0.30 per one million input tokens is also considered somewhat expensive compared to similar models. Nonetheless, it represents a significant leap from its predecessor, showing a 41% increase in automation and a 20% rise in coding capabilities, with a reduced hallucination rate.
