Photo by Sam Szuchan on Unsplash
If you’ve been waiting for an AI model that’s smart, fast, and less restricted than ChatGPT—it’s here. Meet the new Hermes 4 family from Nous Research.
What Just Dropped?
Nous Research just unveiled not one but four new AI models under the Hermes 4 lineup. These include:
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro (Mistral 7B)
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro (OpenHermes Mistral 7B)
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro Llama-3 8B
- Nous Hermes 2 Yi 34B
Each inherits the “Hermes 2 Pro” instruction set, and according to early reports, these are not just “nice updates”—they’re scoring better than OpenAI’s free ChatGPT model across a bunch of benchmarks. What sets them apart? One standout detail: fewer content restrictions.
Why Does This Matter?
If you’ve ever asked ChatGPT something and got a vague refusal or a content warning, you’ve seen the limits of more tightly controlled AI assistants. Hermes 4 models are built to be more open, giving developers and users more flexibility in how they interact with the AI. That could mean fewer blocked requests and more direct, nuanced answers.
Now, let’s be clear—this doesn’t mean the models are wild and unfiltered. It likely means they’re tuned with fewer guardrails, which might appeal to users needing more direct and specific help without running into constant refusals.
Speed and Smarts Combined
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash
Nous Research isn’t just talking big. The Hermes 4 series reportedly beats ChatGPT in performance tests while offering high-quality instruction-following. That makes them a solid choice for devs looking to plug smarter AI into their apps and tools.
And yes, these models are open weights, meaning you can actually download and run them yourself. No subscription. No API keys. Just raw access—something that’s becoming a rare find as more AI tools wall themselves off behind paywalls and corporate APIs.
What’s on the Menu?
Here’s a quick look at each model:
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro (Mistral 7B): Fast and efficient. Built on Mistral 7B architecture.
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro (OpenHermes Mistral 7B): Same base, fine-tuned with OpenHermes dataset.
- Nous Hermes 2 Pro Llama-3 8B: Uses Meta’s latest Llama-3 model with Hermes instruction tuning.
- Nous Hermes 2 YI 34B: Bigger model with strong performance, tuned on the Yi 34B architecture.
All are optimized for high-quality completions and practical use cases, from coding to research writing.
What’s Next?
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
While OpenAI and other big players keep tightening access or hiding how their models work, Nous Research is doing the opposite—putting powerful tools in more people’s hands.
If you’ve got AI projects in the works or just want an assistant that can go a little deeper than ChatGPT without raising content flags, the Hermes 4 models might be worth checking out.
Final Thought
We’re seeing a real shift in the AI world right now. More and more, the real question isn’t just “Which model is smartest?” It’s “Which model actually lets you use it how you want?”
Hermes 4 might be one of those rare answers.
—
📌 Stay curious. Sign up at Yugto.io and we’ll keep you in the loop on what matters in AI and beyond.
Keywords: Hermes 4 AI, Nous Research, ChatGPT alternative, AI models, open weights, unsplash photos.
