Thinking Machines Lab cuts costs with Inkling-Small
Thinking Machines Lab launches Inkling-Small, a 276B parameter model that delivers comparable performance to its larger predecessor at a fraction of the cost.

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Thinking Machines Lab aims to gain ground against competitors by reducing compute requirements
From the articleThe model allows users to adjust reasoning effort, letting them choose between lower costs or higher performance.
a 276B parameter model designed to compete with larger systems efficiently
From the article 7 mentionsThinking Machines Lab today announced the Inkling-Small release, an efficient open-weights model designed to compete with larger systems while slashing compute requirements.
From the articleThe model functions as a mixture-of-experts transformer, utilizing 12 billion active parameters out of 276 billion total.
achieves parity with the larger 975B parameter Inkling model on key benchmarks
From the articleThe model allows users to adjust reasoning effort, letting them choose between lower costs or higher performance.
original Inkling scored 54/100, behind Intapp (70/100) but ahead of 360Learning (45/100)
From the articleStartupHub.ai data assigns the original Inkling a score of 54/100.
From the articleTesting shows Inkling-Small exceeding 80 percent on SWEBench-Verified.
From the articleIt retains the native audio and image processing capabilities found in the larger version.
delivers comparable performance to its larger predecessor at a significantly reduced cost
From the articleThe model allows users to adjust reasoning effort, letting them choose between lower costs or higher performance.
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Written by
Daniel SingerEditor, StartupHub.ai
Daniel Singer is the editor of StartupHub.ai, a technology expert and thought leader on AI and its applications across sectors, from fintech and healthcare to developer tooling and consumer software. He writes and tests the tools covered here thoroughly and regularly, and built StartupHub.ai to give founders, operators and buyers a clearer read on what they are actually being sold.