Business
Benchmarking Costs Climb: Reasoning LLMs Are Pricey to Test
An independent AI test lab detailed the rising cost of benchmarking reasoning models.
Benchmarks
Machine Learning Research
4-Bit Efficiency, 16-Bit Accuracy: Microsoft researchers show that heavily quantized versions of Llama can perform as well as near-full-precision
Using an 8-bit number format like FP8 during training saves computation compared to 16- or 32-bit formats, but it can yield less-accurate results. Researchers trained models using 4-bit numbers without sacrificing accuracy.
Machine Learning Research
Text-Only LLM Goes Multimodal: LLMs learn to caption images, video, and audio without further training
Large language models excel at processing text but can’t interpret images, video, or audio directly without further training on those media types. Researchers devised a way to overcome this limitation.
Machine Learning Research
OpenAI Launches Cost-Effective Alternatives: OpenAI replaces GPT-4.5 with GPT-4.1 Family, plus o3 and o4-mini, new models focused on reasoning and coding
OpenAI refreshed its roster of models and scheduled the largest, most costly one for removal.
Machine Learning Research
Google Unveils Gemini 2.5: Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental outperforms top AI models
Google’s new flagship model raised the state of the art in a variety of subjective and objective tests.
Machine Learning Research
Better Than Trees for Tabular Data: Transformers can outperform decision trees at predicting unlabeled spreadsheet cells
If you have a collection of variables that represent, say, a cancer patient and you want to classify the patient’s illness as likely cancer or not, algorithms based on decision trees, such as gradient-boosted trees, typically perform better than neural networks.
Machine Learning Research
Budget for Reasoning to the Token: Claude 3.7 Sonnet adds extended thinking mode
Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet implements a hybrid reasoning approach that lets users decide how much thinking they want the model to do before it renders a response.
Machine Learning Research
OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 Goes Big: OpenAI releases GPT-4.5, its most powerful non-reasoning model and maybe its last
OpenAI launched GPT-4.5, which may be its last non-reasoning model.
Machine Learning Research
Better Performance From Merged Models: Localize-and-Stitch improves methods for merging and fine-tuning multiple models
Merging multiple fine-tuned models is a less expensive alternative to hosting multiple specialized models. But, while model merging can deliver higher average performance across several tasks, it often results in lower performance on specific tasks. New work addresses this issue.
Machine Learning Research
Higher Reasoning: OpenAI debuts o1 and pro mode for $200/month
OpenAI launched not only its highly anticipated o1 model but also an operating mode that enables the model to deliver higher performance — at a hefty price.
Machine Learning Research
When Agents Train Algorithms: OpenAI’s MLE-bench tests AI coding agents
Coding agents are improving, but can they tackle machine learning tasks?
Tech & Society
Does Your Model Comply With the AI Act?: COMPL-AI study measures LLMs’ compliance with EU’s AI act
A new study suggests that leading AI models may meet the requirements of the European Union’s AI Act in some areas, but probably not in others.