Thinking Machines announces Inkling 2 Small, a 594-billion-parameter model

Thinking Machines has introduced Inkling 2 Small through its Tinker service, with image input and support for fine-tuning. The company announced the model on November 5 and describes it as having 594 billion total parameters, with 17 billion active parameters.

The model's weights were closed at launch. Thinking Machines said it intended to release them under the Apache 2.0 licence after safety testing, but that proposed release has not been verified. Current access through a service should not be confused with an available open-weight download.

Image input and fine-tuning could help developers adapt the model to specialised tasks. Those features and the parameter figures are company descriptions, not independent evidence that it will perform better than alternatives in a particular application.

UPDATE: The service available at launch is distinct from the company's planned weight release. Developers should evaluate the access, licence and terms actually available rather than rely on the proposed future release.