Recursive, an AI startup, has launched Flint, a free coding model designed to run on your laptop. Built primarily with the help of AI, Flint is a lightweight model, with just 2.5 billion parameters, making it suitable for everyday use.

Developed using Recursive’s automated research system, the Eureka Machine, Flint outperformed larger models in certain benchmarks. It’s fast, generating text at a rate of 131 tokens per second, and it’s free to download on Hugging Face.

While some see this as a step towards self-improving AI, others worry about the loss of human oversight. For now, Recursive’s model is manageable, with guidance needed for complex tasks, but the potential for full recursive self-improvement is on the horizon.

Flint’s success highlights the growing role of AI in research and development. As Recursive’s CEO Richard Socher suggests, the goal is for each new model to build the next one faster, with humans still in the driver’s seat for now.