# Thinking Machines Lab launches Inkling 2 Small, raises $5B talks

> Thinking Machines Lab launched Inkling 2 Small; reports say it is raising about $5 billion.

*The 594-billion-parameter model ships with closed weights for now, while reports say the lab is raising at a valuation of at least $40 billion.*

By Bez · FeaturedDaily
Canonical: https://featureddaily.com/news/thinking-machines-lab-launches-inkling-2-small-raises-5b-talks

**What happened:** Thinking Machines Lab launched Inkling 2 Small, a mixture-of-experts model with 594 billion total parameters and 17 billion active. The model is available through Tinker, and its weights are closed for now.

**The numbers:** The company's [launch page](https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/inkling-2-small/) reports 31 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, against 30.6 in its table. It scores 86.3% on SWE-Bench Pro v2 (Hard), 72.1% on DeepSWE v1.1, 81.6% on Vibe Code Bench v1.1 and 81.6% on MMMU Pro. Artificial Analysis says it matches Gemini 3.8 Flash (high) on its index.

**The details:** The model accepts image input and variable effort. It does not support audio.

**In their words:** Thinking Machines Lab said: "Inkling 2 Small far surpasses our previous models' scores on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index with a score of 31."

**What's next:** The company says it intends to release full weights under an Apache 2.0 licence next week, after external safety testing and red-teaming. It gave no date.

**The context:** The lab raised a $2 billion seed round in July 2025 at a $12 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz. Earlier talks at $50–60 billion collapsed after three co-founders returned to OpenAI. Annual revenue run rate is reported above $100 million.

**Funding talks:** The Information reports talks to raise $5–6 billion at a pre-money valuation of at least $40 billion, with Accel reportedly leading. Nvidia may supply about half, roughly $2.5–3 billion. Sources differ on whether Nvidia's share is inside or on top of the $5–6 billion. OpenAI has not confirmed these figures, and the round has not closed.

## Key takeaways

- Inkling 2 Small: 594B parameters, 17B active
- Weights promised under Apache 2.0 next week
- Reported round: $5–6B at $40B+ pre-money valuation

## Sources

- [Thinking Machines Lab debuts Inkling 2 Small](https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/inkling-2-small/) — Thinking Machines Lab, 2026-11-05
- [Thinking Machines Lab pursues $5-6 billion funding round](https://thenextweb.com/news/thinking-machines-lab-6bn-round-nvidia-accel) — The Information via TheNextWeb, 2026-11-06