Thinking Machines Lab’s First Model Gives Nod to Chinese Open Source AI

2026-07-16 · Source: The Information · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, quick

Summary

Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded last year by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has announced its first AI model, named Inkling. In a recent blog post, the company revealed that Inkling's architectural design "largely follows" the DeepSeek V3 model, a notable Chinese open-source contribution. This strategic decision by Thinking Machines Lab to build upon an existing, publicly available architecture from a Chinese developer signals a potential trend in AI model development, emphasizing collaboration and leveraging established open-source foundations rather than starting from scratch. The introduction of Inkling marks the lab's initial foray into the competitive AI landscape, positioning it as a participant that acknowledges and integrates global open-source advancements.

Key takeaway

For AI scientists and engineering leads evaluating new model development strategies, you should consider the efficiency gains from adopting and adapting established open-source architectures. Thinking Machines Lab's approach with Inkling, by following DeepSeek V3, suggests that leveraging proven designs can accelerate your project timelines and reduce initial R&D overhead. Explore existing open-source models, including those from diverse global sources, to inform your foundational architectural choices before committing to a ground-up build.

Key insights

Thinking Machines Lab's Inkling model demonstrates leveraging established open-source architectures, specifically DeepSeek V3, for new AI development.

Principles

• Open-source models accelerate development.
• Architectural influence can be global.
• Collaboration fosters innovation.

In practice

• Evaluate existing open-source models.
• Consider cross-national architectural designs.
• Integrate proven foundational structures.

Topics

• Thinking Machines Lab
• Inkling model
• DeepSeek V3
• Open-source AI
• AI architecture
• Mira Murati

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by The Information.