Inkling tests the case for smaller, customizable AI models

Ep 876: The Most Important AI Model You’ll Probably Never Use That Just Dropped (Replay)

Inkling offers a lens on whether enterprises will favor adaptable, economical models over larger general-purpose systems.

3 key takeaways

1Thinking Machines’ Inkling combines multimodal and agentic capabilities in an open-source model from a new American AI company.
2The model reflects a broader move toward smaller systems that enterprises can fine-tune, customize, and deploy more economically.
3Mira Murati’s leadership gives the release added significance as the AI industry weighs new strategies beyond frontier-scale models.

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The discussion shifts from Inkling’s feature set to the larger strategic bet on smaller, fine-tunable enterprise models.

The brief

Inkling is the first AI model from Thinking Machines Lab, the company led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, and the episode frames its release as strategically important.

The model’s multimodal and agentic capabilities matter alongside its open-source positioning, which could give organizations more control over how they adapt and deploy AI.

The deeper story is economic: smaller specialized models may let enterprises fine-tune systems for specific needs without bearing the cost of frontier-scale deployment.

Jordan Wilson connects Inkling to Thinking Machines’ broader strategy around fine-tuning and to an industry shift from one-size-fits-all models toward customized systems.

Inkling’s significance lies less in whether it becomes a household tool than in whether it helps redefine what businesses expect from an AI model.