This $12 billion startup finally shipped something...
Mera Miati, former CTO of OpenAI, founded Thinking Machines, which released Inkling, a unique open weights model that prioritizes efficiency and epistemic humility over raw intelligence, despite being overshadowed by larger models like Kimmy K3.
MAIN POINTS FROM TRANSCRIPT
- Mera Miati left OpenAI, taking key talent to form Thinking Machines, backed by $2 billion from A16Z.
- Inkling, a 970 billion parameter model, uses a subset of parameters for efficiency, licensed openly on Hugging Face.
- Inkling's "thinking effort" dial allows for adjustable computational intensity, balancing cost and performance.
- The model excels in forecasting and epistemics, admitting uncertainty rather than guessing, unlike other models.
TAKEAWAYS
- Inkling processes raw audio and pixels directly, bypassing traditional encoder models for images and audio.
- The model's design prioritizes practical application and cost-effectiveness over competing with larger models.
- Inkling's release was overshadowed by Moonshot's Kimmy K3, a larger, more powerful model.
- The flagship demo showcased Inkling's ability to self-modify and adapt its training, highlighting its innovative capabilities.