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Comment by simonw

2 days ago

I had a few days of preview access, which was long enough to put together a plugin for LLM. You can try the model out in the terminal like this:

  uv tool install llm
  llm install llm-meta-ai
  llm keys set meta-ai
  # paste API key here
  llm -m meta-ai/muse-spark-1.1 "Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle"

Here's the result: https://tools.simonwillison.net/markdown-svg-renderer#url=ht...

For comparison, here's the pelican I got from Muse Spark 1: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Apr/8/muse-spark/

How do you find the time to “preview” so many models? It’s been a crazy time recently with the model releases. Does it ever feel like a chore?

  • It does feel like a chore in weeks like this one where there are new models landing every day.

    I'm also increasingly worried that I'm not providing enough value in my model reviews. It's really hard to get a useful and credible idea for the strengths of the new models.

  • His primary interest nowadays is LLM's. Unsure if he gets paid for it, but he seems to take it as a dayjob.

    • My blog genuinely is a day job now, I make enough from the (unobtrusive, cookie-free) sponsorship banner that I no longer regret not having a proper software engineering job.

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