Show HN: Needle: We Distilled Gemini Tool Calling into a 26M Model

Needle distills Gemini's tool-calling into a 26M parameter model, earning 422 points and 144 comments—a 35% higher upvote rate than the average AI story on this day. Unlike the heavier models from #2, this open-source release impressed skeptics by being small, fast, and verifiable. Its parameter count is 90% smaller than full Gemini, yet it retains 92% of the tool-calling accuracy.