google-research / timesfm
Summary
Google Research has released TimesFM 2.5, a decoder-only time-series foundation model for forecasting, available via Hugging Face and integrated into Google BigQuery. This latest version significantly reduces parameters from 500M to 200M while expanding context length support to 16k, up from 2048. TimesFM 2.5 also introduces continuous quantile forecasting for horizons up to 1k via an optional 30M quantile head and removes the need for a frequency indicator. The model's inference API has been upgraded, with future plans to support a Flax version for faster inference and reintroduce covariate support. Installation involves cloning the GitHub repository and using `uv` to set up a virtual environment with either PyTorch or Flax dependencies.
Key takeaway
For AI Engineers and Research Scientists building forecasting systems, TimesFM 2.5 offers a compelling upgrade. Its reduced parameter count (200M) and expanded context window (16k) mean more efficient and accurate predictions, especially for complex, long-range time series. You should consider migrating to TimesFM 2.5 to benefit from improved performance and new features like continuous quantile forecasting, potentially simplifying your model architecture and deployment.
Key insights
TimesFM 2.5 is a more efficient, capable time-series foundation model with reduced parameters and extended context.
Principles
- Smaller models can achieve greater capabilities.
- Foundation models enhance time-series forecasting.
Method
Install TimesFM 2.5 via `uv` with PyTorch or Flax, then load and compile the model with a `ForecastConfig` to generate point and quantile forecasts.
In practice
- Use TimesFM 2.5 for long-context time-series forecasting.
- Leverage the quantile head for probabilistic forecasts.
- Integrate with BigQuery for cloud-based forecasting.
Topics
- TimesFM
- Time-series Forecasting
- Foundation Models
- Google Research
- Quantile Forecasting
Code references
Best for: AI Engineer, Research Scientist, AI Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Scientist
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