Bad news - Kandinsky 6 almost certainly won't be released
After promising a late April release, the team pivots to a service-only model...
The Kandinsky series, once a hope for open-source image generation, seems to be closing its doors. A team member previously said Kandinsky 6.0 Image would drop at the end of April, but instead they've created a paid service called 'Kandinsky 6.0 Image Pro' (link in Russian). Past behavior shows that when a 'Pro' version appears as a hosted service, the model weights are not released.
Quality wise, the model is reportedly subpar—good enough if free and open, but unacceptable for a paid API. There is a small chance they might still release a 'Lite' version (as they've done with previous models), but no guarantees. For the community, this marks another loss of a potentially open alternative in the generative AI space.
- Kandinsky 6 Image was teased for late April release but now appears as a paid 'Pro' service
- The company historically keeps models private when launching 'Pro' remote services
- Early reports deem the model quality poor for a paid offering; a 'Lite' variant may still be open-sourced
Why It Matters
Another open-source image model goes closed, reducing accessible alternatives for developers and researchers.