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Researchers created an AI reasoning model on par with OpenAIs o1 for less than $50
The floodgates have opened for building AI reasoning models on the cheap.
Researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington have developed a model that performs comparably to OpenAI o1 and DeepSeek R1 models in math and coding — for less than $50 of cloud compute credits.
What’s more, the model was trained on only 1,000 questions, and took just 26 minutes and 16 Nvidia H100 GPUs. Stanford researcher Niklas Muennighoff said in a email to Mashable that the cost is an estimate based on the GPU runtime and number of H100 GPUs used.
The AI industry of late is all about how new approaches to the pre and post training process can massively save computing costs, as evidenced by DeepSeek’s disruptive impact. On top of that, developers are now able to build on top of existing AI models at little or no cost, through APIs, open-source access, and even closed-source models by distilling their data, bringing the costs down even more.
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According to the team’s research paper which was published last Friday, s1 was trained on a dataset consisting of “1,000 carefully curated questions paired with reasoning traces and answers distilled from Gemini Thinking Experimental.” Google’s Gemini Thinking Experimental model is accessible with daily limits through AI Studio. While it’s a closed-source model, that clearly hasn’t stopped researchers from making use of its responses.
Next, the researchers used an “off the shelf” pretrained model from Alibaba-owned lab, Qwen, and performed supervised fine-tuning of its curated dataset. Then, the team created a token budget to control the amount of compute time for testing the model. If s1 went over budget on thinking tokens, it was cut off and forced to generate whatever answer it came up with. If the researchers wanted the model to spend more “test-time compute” on a problem, they would simply tell the model to “wait,” which extended its thinking time and led to more accurate results.
By controlling the amount of time and compute spent on a problem, the researchers were able to show how increased thinking team leads to improved performance.
S1 is one example of open-source reasoning models that have been developed for a fraction of the cost of flagship models from Google and OpenAI. In January, UC Berkeley researchers released an open-source reasoning model called Sky-T1 that cost $450, “demonstrating that it is possible to replicate high-level reasoning capabilities affordably and efficiently,” per its blog post. There’s also the open-source rStar-Math reasoning model from Microsoft Asia researchers, Tulu 3 from non profit research institute Ai2, and HuggingFace has its own initiative to replicate DeepSeek’s R1.
As high-quality models become more accessible and cheaper, we’re starting to see a power shift from the few AI heavy hitters, to the many.
Topics
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI
Entertainment
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
Mother figures are the backbone of the world. Yours may be your biological mother, or maybe she’s your mother-in-law, your best friend’s mom, or simply someone whose motherly instinct has helped you through hard times.
Moms teach you the adulting necessities, give advice even if the problem is your fault, and above all, they put up with your shit and (almost) never complain.
The game plan here isn’t just to snag the last bouquet at CVS just so you’re not the kid who forgot Mother’s Day (but definitely also get flowers). And you don’t even need to spend a lot of money. (Peep our list of Mother’s Day gifts that cost less than $50. Want even more cheap gift ideas?
Skip the generic mugs and show your appreciation with a gift picked just for her: Whether it’s something to make a part of her life easier, something she’s mentioned wanting in passing, or simply something to make her feel like a damn queen, you can’t put a price on everything she’s done for you, but heartfelt gifts certainly help.
After all, they say “No matter how hard you try, you always end up like your mother.” But is that even a bad thing?
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Ban subscriptions and get Microsoft Office 2024 for life for just £121
TL;DR: Grab Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for PC or Mac for just £120.54 through June 1.
You wouldn’t keep paying for Netflix if you could own your favorite shows, right? So why are you still subscribing to Office apps you use every day? Microsoft 365’s price keeps going up, but there’s finally a way to break free — and it’ll cost you way less in the long run.
Microsoft Office 2024 is the answer you’ve been looking for. Instead of monthly payments, simply pay £120.54 once and be set for life (reg. £188.37). It’s that simple. And, yes, this lifetime download works for PC or Mac.
What’s included?
This license comes with:
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Word
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Excel
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PowerPoint
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Outlook
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OneNote
The newest version of Microsoft Office is a little different from Microsoft 365. But just because you’re switching to a lifetime license doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on some of the most recent updates. Word and Excel both still have AI integrations for text suggestions and smart data analysis, and PowerPoint still has improved tools for recorded presentations.
Once you’ve redeemed your purchase, you can install your apps on one computer. After that, they’re yours to use however you want. No more subscription fees or sudden price hikes to worry about.
Why rent when you can own?
Mashable Deals
Get a Microsoft Office lifetime license on sale for £120.54 with no coupon needed.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
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Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 9, 2025
Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Gibberish.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
TRIPE.
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
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Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
