Pick Inkling for the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai or a 975b-parameter moe (41b active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model. Pick Llama 4 Maverick for open weights, 1m context or strong image + text understanding.
Inkling (Thinking Machines Lab) and Llama 4 Maverick (Meta) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Inkling is mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Llama 4 Maverick is meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. The breakdown below works through their capabilities and ideal use cases so you can match one to your task.
Key differences
Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: Inkling is the newer model by about 16 months (released July 15, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Inkling
Llama 4 Maverick
Provider
Thinking Machines Lab (US)
Meta (US)
Released
July 15, 2026
April 2025
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, audio, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
The first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI: Inkling — Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control — and it is the newer of the two.
A 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model: Inkling — Llama 4 Maverick is comparatively weak here — trails closed frontier on reasoning
A dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request: Inkling — Inkling lists a dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.
Open weights, 1M context: Llama 4 Maverick — Llama 4 Maverick lists open weights, 1M context among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Strong image + text understanding: Llama 4 Maverick — Llama 4 Maverick lists strong image + text understanding among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Self-hostable: Llama 4 Maverick — Llama 4 Maverick lists self-hostable among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Which should you pick?
Anyone whose priority is the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai: Inkling — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is open weights, 1m context: Llama 4 Maverick — That is its strongest area.
Inkling: where it fits
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Released July 15, 2026 by Thinking Machines Lab, it is built for the first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI, a 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model, a dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request, and fully open weights (Apache 2.0) at frontier scale - unusual for a model this large and this new.
Its trade-offs are real: a brand-new lab's first release - no multi-generation track record yet, no official hosted API price - available via third-party hosts only at launch, and independent third-party benchmark verification is still limited given how recently it shipped. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Llama 4 Maverick: where it fits
Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. Released April 2025 by Meta, it is built for open weights, 1M context, strong image + text understanding, self-hostable, and 400B MoE, 17B active.
Its trade-offs: needs serious hardware to self-host, and trails closed frontier on reasoning. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
Inkling and Llama 4 Maverick overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. and each leads in its own area — Inkling for the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai, Llama 4 Maverick for open weights, 1m context. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Inkling or Llama 4 Maverick better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Inkling leans toward the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai while Llama 4 Maverick leans toward open weights, 1m context, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Inkling or Llama 4 Maverick?
They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Inkling and Llama 4 Maverick together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Inkling, Llama 4 Maverick and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Inkling or Llama 4 Maverick?
Inkling — released July 15, 2026, about 16 months after Llama 4 Maverick.
Inkling vs Llama 4 Maverick
Thinking Machines Lab · US | Meta · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Inkling for the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai or a 975b-parameter moe (41b active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model. Pick Llama 4 Maverick for open weights, 1m context or strong image + text understanding.
Inkling (Thinking Machines Lab) and Llama 4 Maverick (Meta) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Inkling is mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Llama 4 Maverick is meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. The breakdown below works through their capabilities and ideal use cases so you can match one to your task.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: Inkling is the newer model by about 16 months (released July 15, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Inkling
Llama 4 Maverick
Provider
Thinking Machines Lab (US)
Meta (US)
Released
July 15, 2026
April 2025
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, audio, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
The first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI
Inkling
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control — and it is the newer of the two.
A 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model
Inkling
Llama 4 Maverick is comparatively weak here — trails closed frontier on reasoning
A dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request
Inkling
Inkling lists a dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.
Open weights, 1M context
Llama 4 Maverick
Llama 4 Maverick lists open weights, 1M context among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Strong image + text understanding
Llama 4 Maverick
Llama 4 Maverick lists strong image + text understanding among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Self-hostable
Llama 4 Maverick
Llama 4 Maverick lists self-hostable among its strengths; Inkling does not.
Which should you pick?
Anyone whose priority is the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai
→ Inkling
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is open weights, 1m context
→ Llama 4 Maverick
That is its strongest area.
Inkling: where it fits
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Released July 15, 2026 by Thinking Machines Lab, it is built for the first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI, a 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model, a dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request, and fully open weights (Apache 2.0) at frontier scale - unusual for a model this large and this new.
Its trade-offs are real: a brand-new lab's first release - no multi-generation track record yet, no official hosted API price - available via third-party hosts only at launch, and independent third-party benchmark verification is still limited given how recently it shipped. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Llama 4 Maverick: where it fits
Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. Released April 2025 by Meta, it is built for open weights, 1M context, strong image + text understanding, self-hostable, and 400B MoE, 17B active.
Its trade-offs: needs serious hardware to self-host, and trails closed frontier on reasoning. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
Inkling and Llama 4 Maverick overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. and each leads in its own area — Inkling for the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai, Llama 4 Maverick for open weights, 1m context. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Inkling and Llama 4 Maverick without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Inkling leans toward the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai while Llama 4 Maverick leans toward open weights, 1m context, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Inkling or Llama 4 Maverick?
They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Inkling and Llama 4 Maverick together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Inkling, Llama 4 Maverick and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Inkling or Llama 4 Maverick?
Inkling — released July 15, 2026, about 16 months after Llama 4 Maverick.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.