The AI startup, founded by OpenAI's former CTO, released Inkling, a general-purpose model that keeps token use in mind.
July 16, 2026
AI startup Thinking Machines, founded by OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, introduced on Wednesday a general-purpose model designed to be cheap, flexible and efficient. It both addresses challenges enterprises currently face with AI models and highlights how new model makers are finding innovative ways to challenge established players.
Inkling is an open-weight model that supports controllable thinking, which means that enterprise users can control costs by adjusting the model's reasoning. While Inkling is a smaller model compared with topline versions, it was built to be broad, allowing it to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI as well as open source model providers such as Nvidia.
"Smaller models that really excel at just doing things -- not knowing things -- are what enterprises really need," said Bradley Shimmin, an analyst at Futurum Group.
