> Alibaba released Qwen 3.6 "tiny" models not that long ago, they punch way above their weight(s)

True, Qwen3.6-27B is amazing for it's size. However, it seems likely that we're not going to see anymore of these smaller models from Alibaba/Qwen since several key players exited that organization a few months back.

Do we know where those key players went?

Good to know, I think the trend is clear based on the models coming out of China and well see more capabilities in smaller, more efficient models.