Training a 3.8B LLM to 0.384 CORE for $998 – Hugo Vergnes
THE SO WHAT
Sub-$1,000 training of a 3.8B-parameter model to competitive CORE scores shows how quickly small-LM economics are collapsing. Teams with narrow domains should be actively testing custom SLMs—owning a tuned model may now be cheaper and more controllable than renting generic API capacity.
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