The Verge reporter tests local AI with Hermes Agent
What happened
On 11 October 2026, a The Verge editor reported on the experience of running an AI model locally. The editor installed the open-source AI agent Hermes Agent on an M5 Ultra Mac Studio and chose the 125-billion-parameter Qwen 3.8 Flash Next model (about 105GB) for the local AI test. The report describes the process as a mix of excitement, bewilderment and frustration. So far the report covers only this one test run, with no mention of later developments or other conflicting information.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 5 d ago
Timeline
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- The Verge · AILearning to use local AI is exciting, overwhelming, and frustrating
I'm embarking on a journey I've so far been hesitant to go on: actually using AI on the regular. Giving my most personal data to cloud services has been a major hold up for me, but it's increasingly possible to run powerful models locally to see what they're capable of.
Heat of this event
Current heat 3·Peak in the comparable range 10（Oct 11 19:00）·Change over 24 hours in the comparable range -49%
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