“We believe in keeping the weirdness alive.” That line comes from a manifesto Mira Murati’s lab published last week. It is also the thinking behind the lab’s first model.
Thinking Machines Lab, founded by the former OpenAI chief technology officer, has released Inkling. It is open-weight, so any developer or company can download the model and reshape it. That alone sets it apart from the flagships sold by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
Inkling is big. It is a mixture-of-experts system with 975 billion total parameters, though it uses only about 41 billion for any given task. It handles a context window of up to 1 million tokens, and it trained on 45 trillion tokens of text, images, audio, and video. It reasons across text, images, and audio, but for now it only writes text back, including code and structured data.
A model that admits it is not the best
Here is the twist. Thinking Machines does not claim Inkling tops the charts. Its own materials call it “not the strongest model available today, closed or open.”
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The lab is chasing something else: range and adaptability. Thinking Machines Inkling is meant to be a broad, balanced base that organisations fine-tune for their own work, not a finished chatbot. Users can dial its “thinking effort” up or down to trade accuracy for speed. On one coding test, the company says, Inkling matches Nvidia’s Nemotron 3 Ultra using a third as many tokens.
The lab also previewed a lighter model, Inkling-Small, with 12 billion active parameters. It suits jobs where cost and speed matter most.
The bet: shape it yourself
The whole release rests on one wager. AI trained in one place and then frozen, the lab argues, loses to AI that each organisation can shape around its own expertise. Customers fine-tune Inkling through Tinker, Thinking Machines’ customisation platform, and they own the result. They also carry the safety risk of whatever they build.
The lab points to a project with the hedge fund Bridgewater as proof. The two trained an open model on Bridgewater’s financial know-how, and it scored 84.7% on financial reasoning tests, beating top proprietary models at a fraction of the cost. That figure comes from the two companies’ own evaluation, not an independent one.
The argument is gaining company. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella recently warned that firms using closed models pay twice, once in fees and once by handing over the knowledge baked into their prompts. Cheap open-weight models, many from China, pull the same way.
Nine months, with some borrowed help
Thinking Machines is keen to stress its speed. OpenAI took about five years to ship and earn, and Anthropic roughly three, TechCrunch noted. Murati’s lab says it did it in about nine months.
It cut a few corners to get there. To start Inkling’s training, the lab leaned on other open models, including Moonshot’s Kimi K2.5, a practice known as distillation. Its next model, it insists, will train fully on its own. Inkling ran on Nvidia’s GB300 systems, part of a March deal for a gigawatt of Nvidia compute.
Money and people have been bumpier. The lab raised $2bn at a $12bn valuation last year, and a reported $50bn round stalled. Two co-founders left earlier this year, though headcount is back to around 200. For now, Thinking Machines will not charge for Inkling at all. Its money comes from Tinker, and its case rests on the weirdness holding up.
Luxury SUVs have become incredibly good at almost everything, but that’s also made a lot of them feel the same. Big screens, plush cabins, and effortless speed are easy to find, while genuine personality is much harder.
That’s exactly where the Alfa Romeo Stelvio stands apart. It delivers the kind of sharp handling, distinctive styling, and driver-focused feel that many mainstream luxury SUVs have gradually moved away from.
Better still, it doesn’t demand the kind of budget you’d expect. Whether you’re buying new or used, the Stelvio offers an engaging alternative to the usual German choices without the eye-watering price tag.
In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Alfa Romeo and other authoritative sources, including Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and TopSpeed.
These 10 luxury SUVs offer top-tier reliability in 2025, combining premium comfort with proven durability for a worry-free ownership experience.
Luxury SUVs have lost their spark
Many German rivals now favor comfort over driver engagement
Credit: Mercedes-Benz
Luxury means different things to different drivers. For some, it’s all about plush seats and cutting-edge tech, while others care more about how a vehicle feels when the road starts to twist.
That’s where many modern luxury SUVs have changed. They’re quicker than ever and loaded with screens, but a lot of them feel bigger, heavier, and more isolated than the driver-focused machines that helped build their reputations.
Drivers want character again
Credit: NetCarShow.com
Not every luxury buyer wants another SUV that looks and drives like everything else on the road. More enthusiasts are searching for something with real personality, sharp steering, and styling that stands out instead of blending in.
That’s opened the door for alternatives like Alfa Romeo. It delivers the kind of emotional driving experience many shoppers feel has been missing from some of the more established German brands.
Digital-first philosophy that prioritizes the in-vehicle experience as the new definition of luxury.
The Stelvio still puts driving first
It delivers the agility many luxury SUVs have left behind
The Stelvio proves you don’t have to spend German luxury money to get a premium SUV that feels genuinely special. Between its unmistakable styling and the choice of rear- or all-wheel drive, it delivers the kind of driver engagement that’s becoming increasingly rare in the segment.
It carries over the same personality that makes the Giulia sedan so appealing, but packages it in a more practical SUV that’s just as easy to live with every day.
Base Trim Engine
2L I4 ICE
Base Trim Transmission
8-speed automatic
Base Trim Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
280 HP @5200 RPM
Base Trim Torque
306 lb.-ft. @ 2000 RPM
Base Trim Fuel Economy (city/highway/combined)
22/28/24 MPG
Make
Alfa Romeo
Model
Stelvio
Segment
Compact Luxury SUV
The 2026 Stelvio may be down to a single trim, but it hasn’t lost the athletic character that made it stand out in the first place. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder sends 280 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque through an eight-speed automatic, delivering plenty of punch for everyday driving.
On paper, those numbers won’t blow away the competition. Out on the road, though, the Stelvio’s lighter feel and eager handling make it one of the most rewarding luxury SUVs to drive.
Italian style you won’t find in German SUVs
Credit: NetCarShow.com
Italian design is part of the Stelvio’s appeal from every angle. Its flowing lines and unmistakable styling help it stand out in a sea of luxury SUVs that increasingly look alike.
Inside, the cabin mixes sporty character with everyday comfort, thanks to supportive leather seats, aluminum trim, and a driver-focused layout. Clever touches like a smartphone slot between the cupholders and extra storage by the driver’s knee add a welcome dose of practicality without taking away from its personality.
If you’re after curb appeal with a side of passion, this Italian stunner is calling.
The Stelvio is cheaper to own than you’d think
Used prices undercut German luxury rivals
Credit: NetCarShow.com
The Stelvio takes a big depreciation hit early on, losing well over $17,000 in its first year. That’s bad news for the original owner, but great news if you’re shopping used, where the savings can be substantial.
A new 2026 Stelvio starts at $49,995, but a lightly older model can deliver a lot more value. The 2020 model, the third year of the current generation, originally retailed for between $44,695 and $83,195, yet now sells for roughly $16,500 to $33,200, with the range-topping Quadrifoglio offering supercar-rivalling performance for a fraction of its original price.
The Quadrifoglio is where things get serious
Credit: Alfa Romeo
If you look at the 2020 Stelvio or any year that includes the Quadrifoglio, you’ll find a broader trim lineup than the current 2026 model offers. Back in 2020, there were seven trims in total, including the range-topping version.
The Quadrifoglio is where things really escalate, using a Ferrari-derived 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 that produces 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. It comes with standard AWD and requires premium 91-octane fuel, but the trade-off is serious performance that puts it in another league.
This monstrous machine leaves sports cars in its dust.
Luxury without the overcomplication
More driving feel, less tech overload
Credit: NetCarShow.com
The Stelvio’s cabin keeps things refreshingly simple, with a clean layout and tactile controls that feel like a break from the screen-heavy interiors of most modern luxury SUVs. It doesn’t try to look like a fighter jet cockpit—just a space that lets you focus on driving without distractions.
That said, it’s not stuck in the past. The 2024 update brought a 12.3-inch digital driver display for clearer info, paired with a more modest 8.8-inch infotainment screen. You still get both touch input and a rotary controller on the center console, giving you modern connectivity without overcomplicating the experience.
Performance that still works daily
Straight-line speed still matters, and the current Stelvio gets from 0–60 mph in 5.3 seconds with a 144 mph top speed. Step up to the Quadrifoglio and things get serious, with 0–60 mph dropping to 3.3 seconds and a claimed 176 mph top speed.
It’s not just about performance either. You still get 18.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, expanding to 56.5 cubic feet with them folded down, plus enough room for four adults to travel comfortably—whether that’s a weekend getaway or a golf trip with friends.
This EV SUV surprised me—it’s packed with space and comfort, even if the drive itself is a bit mellow.
Why the Stelvio is a smart used buy
Enthusiasts are catching on
Credit: Alfa Romeo
Driving the Alfa Romeo Stelvio—no matter the model year—is a big part of its appeal. It looks the part too, with standout styling inside and out, plus enough performance to make an open road genuinely enjoyable.
At the same time, it doesn’t forget it’s an SUV, offering enough practicality for a small family weekend away with gear in tow. That mix of character, usability, and driver focus is exactly why it stands out in a sea of lookalike SUVs, built around the idea that driving should still feel like the main event rather than something filtered through screens.
Character that’s getting hard to find
Credit: Alfa Romeo
What really sets the Stelvio apart from most luxury SUVs is its sense of character. Instead of being built around tech overload or comfort-first isolation, it’s designed with driving enjoyment at its core.
The steering is sharp and unusually communicative for an SUV, and the chassis feels eager to turn in. Add in its distinctive Italian styling, and it brings a level of personality most rivals in this segment simply don’t match.
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