Inkling: Our open-weights model
- ID
- 5255
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 16 Jul 2026, 11:35 PM
- Fetched
- 17 Jul 2026, 12:01 AM
- Provider
- Simon Willison
- Category
- developer-ai
- Original URL
- https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/16/inkling/
- Source URL
- https://simonwillison.net/atom/everything/
Summary
- Score
- 8.0
- Created
- 17 Jul 2026, 12:01 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersai_ml_learnersvibe_coders
What happened
Thinking Machines Lab released Inkling, a 975B parameter Apache-2.0 licensed multimodal open-weights model. While not a frontier model, it is designed as a strong base for fine-tuning and is competitive with other open-weight options. Simon Willison tested its multimodal capabilities, including image generation and description via their Tinker API.
Why it matters
For Malaysian developers and AI startups, a new Apache-2.0 multimodal base model offers another viable option for building custom AI applications without vendor lock-in. The availability of a fine-tuning platform provides a practical pathway to adapt this model for specific local use cases.
Discussion angle
Discuss the trade-offs of using a non-frontier base model like Inkling for fine-tuning versus using API-based frontier models, especially for startups looking to balance cost, control, and performance.