AI Tools Review

NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

Version: 3.5 Lightning

By NVIDIA

Released: 2026-08-11

Open Weights
Mixture of Experts
Agentic AI
Model Routing
NVIDIA
Free
New

NVIDIA's open-weights hybrid Mamba-2/Mixture-of-Experts/Attention model, released 11 August 2026, built specifically for high-volume, low-latency AI agent workloads. 31.6B total parameters with only 3.6B active per token, ships alongside NeMo Switchyard, an open-source router for multi-model agent workflows.

Visit NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

AI-Powered

Leverages advanced AI technology to deliver cutting-edge capabilities and results.

Fast & Efficient

Optimized performance ensures quick results without compromising on quality.

Purpose-Built

Specifically designed for llms tasks and workflows.

NVIDIA Model Timeline

NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 LightningCurrent
Nemotron 3 Ultra

512k tokens context

AI Evaluation

4
Expert Rating

A fast, cheap, open-weights model purpose-built for agentic workloads rather than raw benchmark-topping intelligence, with NeMo Switchyard as a genuinely useful companion router for multi-model pipelines.

Pros

  • Open weights, free to self-host
  • Sparse MoE design (3.6B active of 31.6B total) makes it fast and cheap to run
  • Ships with NeMo Switchyard for routing steps of an agent workflow to the best-suited model

Cons

  • Optimised for speed/cost over peak raw intelligence versus larger frontier models
  • Newer release with a shorter independent-benchmark track record
  • Best value requires adopting NeMo Switchyard's routing approach, not just the base model alone