Important: IBM Cloud Pak® for Data Version 4.8 will reach end of support (EOS) on 31 July, 2025. For more information, see the Discontinuance of service announcement for IBM Cloud Pak for Data Version 4.X.
Upgrade to IBM Software Hub Version 5.1 before IBM Cloud Pak for Data Version 4.8 reaches end of support. For more information, see Upgrading from IBM Cloud Pak for Data Version 4.8 to IBM Software Hub Version 5.1.
Foundation model lifecycle
To help you discover and use the latest and best foundation models from IBM and other open source providers, the foundation models that are available for prompting from watsonx.ai are refreshed regularly.
Foundation models that are built by IBM are continuously updated and improved. As new versions of IBM foundation models are introduced, older versions are deprecated. The deprecated version of an IBM foundation model is supported until the next release (n.n.0) of the software is available.
Similarly, as newer and more-effective open source models become available, less useful models are removed from watsonx.ai to make room for them. Open source foundation models that are deprecated are supported until the next modification (n.n.n) of the software is available.
Modifications to IBM foundation models
IBM foundation models are periodically modified by IBM to improve the foundation model performance or security. A modification is a model refresh that might include new capabilities or fixes, but does not meet IBM's criteria to warrant a version update.
After a modification to an IBM foundation model is introduced, the modified version of the model automatically replaces the earlier version of the model when you upgrade your deployment.
Foundation model deprecation
During the deprecation period, you can continue to inference the deprecated foundation model. However, a message is returned with the foundation model output to notify you about the upcoming model removal.
A deprecated foundation model can also be constricted. When a deprecated model is in the constricted state, it means the model can be inferenced, but cannot be tuned, trained, or deployed.
If a withdrawn model is installed in your cluster, you can continue to inference the model. However, no software support is provided by IBM for foundation models that are withdrawn from watsonx.ai. Withdrawn models are highlighted with a warning
icon 
. A tooltip indicates that the model is withdrawn.
When a foundation model is deprecated, the following steps are taken to inform you about the deprecation:
- The foundation model is highlighted in the product user interface with a warning icon
. A tooltip indicates that the deprecated model is scheduled
for withdrawal. - The deprecation is announced in the What’s new topic of the product documentation. The release note clearly states the deprecation date and withdrawal date for the foundation model.
- The Deprecated foundation models table is updated to show the foundation model that is being deprecated, the dates of deprecation and withdrawal, and a suitable alternative foundation model for you to consider as a replacement.
| Foundation model name Foundation model ID API model ID |
Release deprecated | Release withdrawn | Alternative foundation model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name: granite-13b-chat-v1 Model ID: ibm-granite-13b-chat-v1API ID: ibm/granite-13b-chat-v1 |
• Cluster version 4.8.4 • Operand version 8.4.0 |
• Cluster version 5.0.1 • Operand version 9.1.0 |
granite-13b-chat-v2 |
| Name: granite-13b-instruct-v1 Model ID: ibm-granite-13b-instruct-v1API ID: ibm/granite-13b-instruct-v1 |
• Cluster version 4.8.4 • Operand version 8.4.0 |
• Cluster version 5.0.1 • Operand version 9.1.0 |
granite-13b-instruct-v2 |
| Name: gpt-neox-20b Model ID: eleutherai-gpt-neox-20bAPI ID: eleutherai/gpt-neox-20b |
• Cluster version 4.8.4 • Operand version 8.4.0 |
• Cluster version 5.0.1 • Operand version 9.1.0 |
mixtral-8x7b-instruct-v01-q |
| Name: mpt-7b-instruct2 Model ID: ibm-mpt-7b-instruct2API ID: ibm/mpt-7b-instruct2 |
• Cluster version 4.8.4 • Operand version 8.4.0 |
• Cluster version 5.0.1 • Operand version 9.1.0 |
mixtral-8x7b-instruct-v01-q |
| Name: starcoder-15.5b Model ID: bigcode-starcoderAPI ID: bigcode/starcoder |
• Cluster version 4.8.4 • Operand version 8.4.0 |
• Cluster version 5.0.1 • Operand version 9.1.0 |
mixtral-8x7b-instruct-v01-q |
The cluster version is the software version of the Cloud Pak for Data cluster in which the service is installed. The operand version is the version of the watsonx.ai service operator.
Adjustments after foundation model removal
After a foundation model is withdrawn, the model is highlighted in the product user interface with a warning icon. A tooltip indicates that the foundation model is withdrawn and no longer supported.
If any of the following saved resources submit input to a foundation model that was withdrawn, you must choose a supported alternative foundation model to use.
- Prompt template asset
- Prompt session asset
- Notebook asset
For more information about working with saved prompt assets, see Saving your work.
For more information about how to change the foundation model that is inferenced from a notebook asset, see Inferencing a foundation model with a notebook.
For more information about how to remove a deprecated model from your deployment, see Removing foundation models.
Parent topic: Supported foundation models