# Thinking Machines Releases Inkling Open AI Model

> Thinking Machines Lab, the startup founded in early 2025 by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has shipped its first model. Called Inkling, it is an open-weight multimodal release that developers can download and customize, and the company is refreshingly candid that it is not the strongest model on the market. The pitch is balance: usable performance at a cost and openness that invite tinkering. That framing tells you about the strategy. Rather than chase benchmark supremacy against OpenAI and Google, Thinking Machines is leaning into customization and a developer tool called Tinker for fine-tuning, already serving clients like Bridgewater. Revenue comes from helping others adapt the model, not from gating the model itself. There is also a geopolitical subtext. US open-source releases have lagged well behind Chinese labs shipping powerful open weights, and Inkling reads partly as an attempt to close that gap. A high-profile founder betting on openness rather than a closed flagship is a notable divergence from the prevailing playbook, and worth watching.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Fortune · Published Tuesday, July 21, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Thinking Machines Lab, the startup founded in early 2025 by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has shipped its first model. Called Inkling, it is an open-weight multimodal release that developers can download and customize, and the company is refreshingly candid that it is not the strongest model on the market. The pitch is balance: usable performance at a cost and openness that invite tinkering. That framing tells you about the strategy. Rather than chase benchmark supremacy against OpenAI and Google, Thinking Machines is leaning into customization and a developer tool called Tinker for fine-tuning, already serving clients like Bridgewater. Revenue comes from helping others adapt the model, not from gating the model itself. There is also a geopolitical subtext. US open-source releases have lagged well behind Chinese labs shipping powerful open weights, and Inkling reads partly as an attempt to close that gap. A high-profile founder betting on openness rather than a closed flagship is a notable divergence from the prevailing playbook, and worth watching.

## Source

[Read the full story at Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/07/15/what-is-mira-murati-thinking-machines-first-ai-model-inkling/)

## Related coverage

- [Top AI spenders cut per-employee costs by nearly 10 percent in August](https://www.wortins.com/story/top-ai-spenders-cut-per-employee-costs-by-nearly-10-percent--b31ffb0b) — [The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com/top-ai-spenders-cut-per-employee-costs-by-nearly-10-percent-in-august/)
- [A look at why the oft-discussed predictions that AI will deliver double-digit GDP growth in advanced economies are extremely unlikely over the next 10-15 years (Ghosts of Electricity)](https://www.wortins.com/story/a-look-at-why-the-oft-discussed-predictions-that-ai-will-del-6241fa38) — [Techmeme](https://www.techmeme.com/260910/p10#a260910p10)
- [Farmers Embrace AI More Than Any Other Tech, McKinsey Says](https://www.wortins.com/story/farmers-embrace-ai-more-than-any-other-tech-mckinsey-says-78dfb3ec) — [Insurance Journal](https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/09/09/884469.htm)
- [Microsoft has new AI privacy rules for schools](https://www.wortins.com/story/microsoft-has-new-ai-privacy-rules-for-schools-6e0b8ab0) — [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/policy/992359/microsoft-aft-schools-ai-privacy)
- [Chinese tech giants are hiring skilled professionals as specialized AI trainers to build high-quality datasets, mirroring efforts by US platforms like Mercor (Viola Zhou/Rest of World)](https://www.wortins.com/story/chinese-tech-giants-are-hiring-skilled-professionals-as-spec-116fb4b8) — [Techmeme](https://www.techmeme.com/260910/p6#a260910p6)
- [Researchers used AI to build a WeChat worm that spreads through phone calls](https://www.wortins.com/story/researchers-used-ai-to-build-a-wechat-worm-that-spreads-thro-8bf3f469) — [The Next Web](https://thenextweb.com/news/wechat-worm-ai-calif-tencent-zero-click)

---

_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._