LLMJul 16, 2026, 6:18 AM

[AINews] Thinky's Inkling: 975B-A41B multimodal, new best American Apache 2.0 open model (with Inkling-Small, 276B-A12B)

30-second summary

Thinky released Inkling, a 975‑billion‑parameter multimodal model under Apache 2.0, together with a smaller 276‑billion‑parameter version.

TickrWire
[AINews] Thinky's Inkling: 975B-A41B multimodal, new best American Apache 2.0 open model (with Inkling-Small, 276B-A12B)
Key takeaways
  • Inkling‑A41B is a 975 billion‑parameter multimodal model released with open weights.
  • The Apache 2.0 license enables unrestricted commercial and research use.
  • A smaller 276 billion‑parameter version provides a more compute‑friendly option.
  • The launch expands the pool of large open‑source models originating from the United States.
Full story

Thinky announced its first full‑scale language model family, called Inkling. The flagship model, Inkling‑A41B, contains 975 billion parameters and supports text, image, and audio inputs, making it a true multimodal system.

A lighter variant, Inkling‑Small, offers 276 billion parameters while retaining multimodal capabilities, targeting developers who need lower compute requirements.

Both models are released under the permissive Apache 2.0 license with publicly available weights, positioning them as the largest open‑source American AI models to date. The release follows a trend of democratizing large‑scale AI by providing unrestricted access to cutting‑edge architectures.

Thinky's move aims to foster community‑driven research and application development, offering an alternative to proprietary offerings from major cloud providers.

Why this matters
Developers

Provides a ready‑to‑use, open‑weight multimodal model for building applications.

Businesses

Enables cost‑effective deployment of advanced AI without licensing fees.

Investors

Signals growing competition in the open‑source AI space, potentially affecting market dynamics.

Students

Offers a high‑capacity research model for academic projects.

Everyone

Democratizes access to state‑of‑the‑art AI technology.

Glossary
multimodal
An AI system that can process and generate multiple data types such as text, images, and audio.
Apache 2.0
A permissive open‑source software license allowing free use, modification, and distribution.
Sources · 1
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