The Allen Institute for AI recently released its most powerful model ever: Olmo 3. Olmo is cheap to train, making it perfect for anyone training their own model.
Olmo 3 is 2.5 times more efficient to train than Llama 3.1 based on GPU-hours per token. Olmo is also much more transparent than other models.
Most so-called “open source” models, like Llama or DeepSeek, are really just “open weight.” They give you the weights, but they won’t show you how they trained the model (“model flow”) or give you the training data.
Olmo is 100% open.
I popped up Olmo 3 on OpenRouter this morning. Let’s see what this thing can do!
Round #1: Researching Marketplace Startups
Yesterday, I was researching the background of a really incredible founder. He co-founded a unicorn marketplace.
This got me thinking…how many people in the world can say that?
Olmo gave a solid estimate on the number of unicorn marketplace startups and the number of co-founders. Its best guess is that there are a couple hundred people in the world who have co-founded a billion-dollar marketplace.
Olmo’s response was solid, but it didn’t cite any sources. This makes it hard to rely on the answer.
Competing models like DeepSeek have nailed sourcing. At this point, it’s table stakes.
I’m giving this round a C.
Round #2: Learning About the Fiber Buildout
We are in the midst of a massive AI buildout. Big tech companies are spending a fortune on GPU’s, data centers, and training data.
How big can this get?
For comparison, I asked Olmo to tell me about the fiber buildout in the 1990s. This time, I used its “Search” function to see if we can get some citations in the response.
Olmo estimates that Telecom spent $50 billion in the US on the fiber build-out. But it doesn’t cite any sources, so it’s hard to know if these figures are accurate.
I got vastly different numbers from Grok and Gemini, both around $500 billion.
Again, the lack of sourcing makes Olmo’s outputs a lot less useful. I’m giving this round a C as well.
Round #3: Planning My Christmas Trip
I’m beginning to feel a little sorry for Olmo. So, I decided to give it something a little easier.
I’m flying back to Wisconsin on Christmas Eve. The airport is likely to be packed to the gills.
Can Olmo give me some tips for surviving the chaos?
Olmo reminded me that my Global Entry membership lets me use the TSA Pre-Check line. I forgot all about that!
That was a very helpful tip that could save me hours. I’m giving this round an A!
Wrap-Up
Overall, Olmo 3 scores a C+ in my testing.
Olmo is definitely not the most powerful AI model out there, or even the most powerful open source model.
But the outputs are decent, and it’s very cheap to train.
Try using Olmo in your application and see if it gives you the outputs you need. If so, it may make sense to switch.
The most powerful model isn’t always the best choice for your application. Sometimes, cost matters.
Have you tried Olmo?
Have a great weekend, everyone!
More on tech:
Can DeepSeek Beat the Best American Models?
Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test
Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok
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