# PrismML release of Bonsai 2 27B AI model

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/prismml-release-of-bonsai-2-27b-ai-model
> Updated: 2026-09-19T03:00:11.000Z. Sources: 7. Developments: 2.

PrismML, a startup founded by Caltech researchers, has released Bonsai 2 27B, an ultra-lightweight multimodal generative AI model. The model is based on Alibaba’s Qwen3.8 27B and utilizes a “ternary weights” technique—using only +1, 0, and -1 values—combined with FP16 group-wise scaling.

This compression method reduces the model footprint from approximately 56 GB to 5.9 GB, making it more than nine times smaller than the full-precision version while retaining roughly 98% of the original benchmark performance. The model supports a 262K-token context window and multimodal text-and-image inputs, designed to run locally on consumer-grade hardware like Apple M-series chips and Nvidia GeForce GPUs to enhance privacy and reduce cloud dependency.

Following the release, it was noted that PrismML has secured $22.25 million in seed funding from investors including Khosla Ventures, Cerberus Capital, and Caltech. The company intends to scale this compression technology to models containing hundreds of billions of parameters.

## Timeline

### 2026-09-19: PrismML launches Bonsai 2 27B lightweight AI model

PrismML has launched Bonsai 2 27B, an AI model that uses ternary weights to compress large models by up to 10x, enabling high-performance AI to run locally on PCs and smartphones.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/prismml-launches-bonsai-2-27b-lightweight-ai-model

### 2026-09-17: PrismML releases Bonsai 2 27B for local AI execution

PrismML has launched Ternary Bonsai 2 27B, a compressed LLM that retains 98.2% of its original performance while reducing its footprint to 5.9 GB for local execution on mobile and PC hardware.

5 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/prismml-releases-bonsai-2-27b-for-local-ai-execution

---
Cite as: PrismML release of Bonsai 2 27B AI model. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/prismml-release-of-bonsai-2-27b-ai-model