NeoLLM
NeoLLM is a 85.13 M parameter decoder-only language model trained from scratch on FineWeb-Edu with BF16 compute, completing training in approximately ~1h 19m on NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition. It integrates a collection of recently published attention and normalization techniques into a single architecture, with the goal of studying how they interact during pretraining. The model is actively being developed and the current checkpoint represents an intermediate training state.
Author / contact: @Kyokopom on X Repository: KitsuVp/NeoLLM
Architecture
NeoLLM is a decoder-only transformer with the following configuration:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Hidden size | 512 |
| Layers | 12 |
| Attention heads | 8 |
| KV heads (GQA) | 4 |
| Head dim | 64 |
| Intermediate size | 1536 |
| Vocabulary | LiquidAI/LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking tokenizer (64,402 tokens) |
| Context length | 512 tokens |
| Leviathan | enabled=True; d_seed=128, modes=8, knots=16 |
| JTok / JTok-M | enabled=False / False; Torch continuous surfaces, experts=5, top_k=2 |
| DAGFormer | enabled=False; {'predictor_dim': 256, 'predictor_layers': 2, 'predictor_heads': 4, 'local_dim': 128, 'input_source': 'tokens'} |
| Linear Depth Memory | enabled=False; groups=8, key dimension=8; shared branch history when combined with SiameseNorm |
| Virtual Head Attention | enabled=False; query/KV heads follow the configured geometry |
| Copy-Paste LM | enabled=True; causal vocabulary/pointer mixture |
Parameter breakdown
| Parameter bucket | Count |
|---|---|
| Total parameters | 85.13M (85,126,072) |
| Embedding parameters (tied) | 32.97M (32,973,824) |
| Non-embedding parameters | 52.15M (52,152,248) |
| Effective trainable parameters | 85.13M (85,126,072) |
Weight tying is enabled: the input embedding matrix and the language-model head share the same parameters, so the effective trainable budget is
total − embed = 52.15M.
Integrated techniques
NeoLLM combines architecture modules, optional auxiliary objectives, and training-time optimizer/stability components from the following papers.
Embedding and token representation
- Learnable Multipliers (arXiv:2601.04890) — Adds per-row and per-column learnable scalar parameters to selected matrix layers and, when enabled, embeddings.
- Leviathan (arXiv:2601.22040) — Optional continuous token embedding generator that can replace the discrete input lookup table.
- Leviathan-JTok / JTok-M (arXiv:2602.00800) —
Optional continuous adaptation of JTok over the shared Leviathan coordinate. JTok
applies one normalized surface as a multiplicative MLP gate; JTok-M routes a
Sigmoid+TopK mixture of continuous surfaces and adds the paper's depth-scaled
residual. Runtime
jtok_kernel_backendselects the PyTorch reference or the CCE Triton adapter; the JTok surfaces remain outside MXFP8 conversion. - KHRONOS (arXiv:2505.13315) — Kernel/basis reference used by the Leviathan continuous token generator implementation.
- Spelling Bee Embeddings (arXiv:2601.18030) — Augments token embeddings with character-level spelling information.
- Token Embedding Manifold analysis (arXiv:2504.01002) — Reference motivation for treating token embeddings as structured objects rather than unconstrained lookup rows.
Attention, positions, and output projection
- Virtual Head Attention (arXiv:2610.17959) — Optional group-specific query premix and low-rank head postmix. NeoLLM shares its gated query projection across corresponding head slots in KV groups and applies postmix after the gate; inference weights are not automatically folded into standard GQA projections.
- Copy-Paste LM (arXiv:2610.19247) — Optional causal pointer and sink mixed with the vocabulary distribution. CUDA training uses CCE's sparse Copy-Paste kernels; inference returns dense mixed logits.
- FAN (arXiv:2502.21309) — Fourier Analysis Networks. A portion of the projection channels are dedicated to periodic cosine/sine features.
- MEA (arXiv:2601.19611) — Explicit Multi-head Attention. Adds small learnable interaction matrices between attention heads for K and V.
- LUCID (arXiv:2602.10410) — Applies a learned lower-triangular preconditioner to V before attention, decorrelating value representations across positions.
- Affine-Scaled Attention (arXiv:2602.23057) — Adds
two learnable per-head scalars (α and β) to the softmax weights:
[α·softmax(QKᵀ) + β]·V. - XSA (arXiv:2603.09078) — Exclusive Self Attention. After computing attention, removes the component of the output aligned with the token's own value vector.
- Directional Routing (arXiv:2603.14923) — Each head learns K=4 directions in the output space; a learned router suppresses the attention output along each direction per input.
- Gated Attention (arXiv:2505.06708) — A sigmoid gate is applied to the attention output before the output projection, introducing non-linearity and preventing attention sinks.
- Momentum Attention (arXiv:2411.03884) — Modifies Q and K by subtracting a fraction of the previous position's Q and K values (causal first-difference).
- Interleaved Head Attention / IHA (arXiv:2602.21371) — Builds pseudo-heads from learned cross-head mixtures to create multiple attention patterns per original head.
- REPO (arXiv:2512.14391) — Context re-positioning module that learns contextual position coordinates above a configurable start layer.
- GRAPE (arXiv:2512.07805) — Group representational position encoding used by the REPO-GRAPE positional path.
- GOAT priors (arXiv:2601.15380) — Optional factorized attention log-prior channels inspired by trainable attention priors.
- Hadamard output projection (arXiv:2603.08343) — Replaces dense attention output projection with a structured Hadamard transform plus lightweight scaling.
Normalization, residual flow, and MLP
- SeeDNorm (arXiv:2510.22777) — Applied to Q and K projections. Dynamically rescales normalization from the input's own statistics.
- LayerNorm Scaling / LNS (arXiv:2502.05795) — Each layer's output is scaled by 1/√ℓ where ℓ is the layer index.
- GPAS (arXiv:2506.22049) — Gradient-Preserving Activation Scaling for residual junctions.
- PolyNorm (arXiv:2602.04902) — Replaces the standard MLP activation with normalized linear, quadratic, and cubic branches.
- SimpleGPT (arXiv:2602.01212) — Second-order geometry-inspired normalization strategy applied inside MLP projections.
- StackMemory / STACKTRANS (NeurIPS 2025) — Optional differentiable hidden-state stack between decoder layers.
- Attention Residuals / AttnRes (arXiv:2603.15031) — Optional learned depth-wise aggregation over previous layer outputs or block summaries.
- LAUREL (arXiv:2411.07501) — Optional learned augmented residual layer with residual-weight and low-rank variants.
Training objectives and training-time regularizers
- Cut Cross Entropy (Apple repository) — Memory-efficient next-token loss that avoids materializing the full token-by-vocabulary logits tensor. NeoLLM remains compatible with the upstream package when the extensions below are disabled.
- MiLe Loss (arXiv:2310.19531) — Optional detached, mean-normalized predictive-entropy weighting of token losses, implemented inside the extended CCE path.
- Output Embedding Centering / mu-loss
(arXiv:2601.02031) — Optional
lambda * ||mean(output_embeddings)||^2regularizer for output-logit stability. - MEAP (arXiv:2502.07490) — Optional training-only input corruption that masks a fixed fraction of eligible tokens while preserving clean next-token labels, causal attention, and the inference path.
- TWEO (arXiv:2511.23225) — Optional Transformers Without Extreme Outliers activation regularizer for FP8/low-bit-friendly training.
- NITP (arXiv:2605.24956) — Optional Next Implicit Token Prediction auxiliary objective using shallow-layer implicit token targets and a cosine loss.
- NextLat (arXiv:2511.05963) — Optional next-latent prediction objective using latent dynamics, Smooth L1 supervision, and frozen-head KL.
Optional extended-CCE configuration
| Feature | Enabled | Value |
|---|---|---|
| MiLe Loss | True | gamma=1.0 |
| mu-loss | True | lambda=0.0001 |
| MEAP | True | ratio=0.15 |
Copy-Paste uses CCE sparse mixture statistics for CUDA training and computes mu-loss in Torch. MEAP and patch training also use the extended cut-cross-entropy package.
Kitsunp/ml-cross-entropy supplies the extended kernels.
Copy-Paste exposes three compact
scalars: unweighted NTP cross entropy, the MiLe reweighting delta, and the mu-loss penalty.
Their sum reconstructs ntp_loss exactly. MEAP reports its eligible and selected counts from
the masking kernel; the trainer logs the selected count and exact fraction. Copy-Paste diagnostics use sparse source-token candidates and CCE vocabulary reductions.
Optimizer and training stability
- Adam-family optimizer mode — Active variant: AdEMAMix.
AdEMAMix (arXiv:2409.03137) contributes the optional
beta3 slow-memory branch when
ADEMAMIX=True. DeltaMomentum (arXiv:2608.19491) optionally replaces only the fast beta1 first-moment update on hidden Linear weights whenDELTA=True; beta2 remains Adam's ordinary squared-gradient EMA in every mode. - BF16 stochastic rounding (arXiv:2502.20566) — Optional master-free BF16 model update with stochastic rather than nearest rounding; the same write-back path is shared by AdamW, DeltaAdamW, AdEMAMix, and DeltaAdEMAMix.
- Cautious Weight Decay (arXiv:2510.12402) — Sign-selective weight decay variant used by the custom optimizer logic.
- Correction of Decoupled Weight Decay (arXiv:2512.08217) — Adapts decoupled weight decay during learning-rate decay.
- AdamHD (arXiv:2511.14721) — Decoupled Huber decay regularization reference used by the optimizer.
- Gradient conditioning — CAST active; history-adaptive spectral/norm policies by optimizer group; 5208 committed updates. References: CAST, GradientStabilizer.
Training
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Dataset | FineWeb-Edu (sample-10BT) |
| Tokens seen | ~0.51B (15,625 steps × batch 64 × length 512) |
| Precision | BF16 model state (bfloat16: 85,123,896 elements, float32: 2,176 elements) + AdEMAMix FP32 master active; stochastic rounding disabled |
| Optimizer | AdEMAMix |
| Gradient transform | CAST active; history-adaptive spectral/norm policies by optimizer group; 5208 committed updates |
| Learning rate | 1e-03 with 4,000-step linear warmup |
| Patch transition | Reset optimizer/conditioner at step 10,417; per-phase LR warmup; restarted AdEMAMix warmup fitted to each phase |
| Weight decay | coefficients [0.005, 0.01, 0.1]; WD 5/5 groups; CWD 2; Huber 0; Correction 0 |
| Training time | ~1h 19m |
| Hardware | NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition |
Training curve — total objective
Total includes MiLe when enabled, plus all active auxiliary objectives and regularizers. Without MiLe means model total minus its MiLe delta on the same forward; this is not a separate training run without MiLe.
| Step | Train total | Val total | Train without MiLe | Val without MiLe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12.1091 | — | 12.1091 | — |
| 250 | 7.48817 | — | 7.48006 | — |
| 500 | 7.38205 | — | 7.36692 | — |
| 750 | 7.31452 | — | 7.29579 | — |
| 1,000 | 7.27752 | — | 7.25599 | — |
| 1,250 | 7.24217 | — | 7.21878 | — |
| 1,500 | 7.21533 | — | 7.18957 | — |
| 1,750 | 7.1794 | — | 7.15178 | — |
| 2,000 | 7.1502 | — | 7.1206 | — |
| 2,250 | 7.12798 | — | 7.09679 | — |
| 2,500 | 7.09162 | — | 7.05962 | — |
| 2,750 | 7.05831 | — | 7.02534 | — |
| 3,000 | 7.03258 | — | 6.99856 | — |
| 3,250 | 7.00834 | — | 6.97288 | — |
| 3,500 | 6.99144 | — | 6.95501 | — |
| 3,750 | 6.97047 | — | 6.93302 | — |
| 4,000 | 6.95205 | — | 6.91422 | — |
| 4,250 | 6.93665 | — | 6.89784 | — |
| 4,500 | 6.92121 | — | 6.88164 | — |
| 4,750 | 6.90024 | — | 6.86 | — |
| 5,000 | 6.87952 | 6.97561 | 6.83771 | 6.91933 |
| 5,250 | 6.86819 | — | 6.82568 | — |
| 5,500 | 6.85762 | — | 6.81425 | — |
| 5,750 | 6.84215 | — | 6.79739 | — |
| 6,000 | 6.82791 | — | 6.78216 | — |
| 6,250 | 6.81792 | — | 6.77247 | — |
| 6,500 | 6.80506 | — | 6.7599 | — |
| 6,750 | 6.80079 | — | 6.75407 | — |
| 7,000 | 6.78446 | — | 6.73771 | — |
| 7,250 | 6.78035 | — | 6.7324 | — |
| 7,500 | 6.77858 | — | 6.73004 | — |
| 7,750 | 6.76912 | — | 6.72007 | — |
| 8,000 | 6.76376 | — | 6.7138 | — |
| 8,250 | 6.75292 | — | 6.70173 | — |
| 8,500 | 6.74686 | — | 6.69614 | — |
| 8,750 | 6.74092 | — | 6.68849 | — |
| 9,000 | 6.72985 | — | 6.67761 | — |
| 9,250 | 6.71476 | — | 6.66062 | — |
| 9,500 | 6.706 | — | 6.65167 | — |
| 9,750 | 6.70201 | — | 6.64772 | — |
| 10,000 | 6.68574 | 6.81049 | 6.62962 | 6.74182 |
| 10,250 | 6.67942 | — | 6.62312 | — |
| 10,500 | 6.51852 | — | 6.41485 | — |
| 10,750 | 5.68894 | — | 5.38453 | — |
| 11,000 | 5.55274 | — | 5.21286 | — |
| 11,250 | 5.48644 | — | 5.12636 | — |
| 11,500 | 5.44022 | — | 5.06406 | — |
| 11,750 | 5.40189 | — | 5.01526 | — |
| 12,000 | 5.37264 | — | 4.97773 | — |
| 12,250 | 5.34265 | — | 4.93939 | — |
| 12,500 | 5.31439 | — | 4.90518 | — |
| 12,750 | 5.30246 | — | 4.88358 | — |
| 13,000 | 5.27841 | — | 4.85558 | — |
| 13,250 | 5.2676 | — | 4.83947 | — |
| 13,500 | 5.24949 | — | 4.81518 | — |
| 13,750 | 5.25181 | — | 4.81448 | — |
| 14,000 | 5.23557 | — | 4.79578 | — |
| 14,250 | 5.22921 | — | 4.78735 | — |
| 14,500 | 5.22425 | — | 4.77866 | — |
| 14,750 | 5.20891 | — | 4.75632 | — |
| 15,000 | 5.20171 | 4.8294 | 4.74737 | 4.27092 |
| 15,250 | 5.17208 | — | 4.71224 | — |
| 15,500 | 5.15728 | — | 4.69331 | — |
| 15,625 | 5.13852 | 4.77795 | 4.67192 | 4.20901 |
Cross-entropy with and without MiLe
CE without MiLe is unweighted CE; CE with MiLe adds the reweighting delta. Both exclude mu and auxiliary terms. ntp_loss includes mu when enabled.
| Step | Train CE without MiLe | Val CE without MiLe | Train CE with MiLe | Val CE with MiLe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11.1197 | — | 11.1197 | — |
| 250 | 7.2798 | — | 7.2879 | — |
| 500 | 6.98502 | — | 7.00015 | — |
| 750 | 6.87304 | — | 6.89176 | — |
| 1,000 | 6.80336 | — | 6.82489 | — |
| 1,250 | 6.74976 | — | 6.77315 | — |
| 1,500 | 6.70907 | — | 6.73483 | — |
| 1,750 | 6.67012 | — | 6.69774 | — |
| 2,000 | 6.64233 | — | 6.67192 | — |
| 2,250 | 6.62434 | — | 6.65553 | — |
| 2,500 | 6.59703 | — | 6.62903 | — |
| 2,750 | 6.57489 | — | 6.60786 | — |
| 3,000 | 6.55921 | — | 6.59323 | — |
| 3,250 | 6.5437 | — | 6.57916 | — |
| 3,500 | 6.52882 | — | 6.56525 | — |
| 3,750 | 6.51063 | — | 6.54809 | — |
| 4,000 | 6.49316 | — | 6.53099 | — |
| 4,250 | 6.48127 | — | 6.52008 | — |
| 4,500 | 6.46815 | — | 6.50771 | — |
| 4,750 | 6.44927 | — | 6.48952 | — |
| 5,000 | 6.43098 | 6.34724 | 6.47279 | 6.40352 |
| 5,250 | 6.42022 | — | 6.46272 | — |
| 5,500 | 6.41084 | — | 6.45422 | — |
| 5,750 | 6.39614 | — | 6.4409 | — |
| 6,000 | 6.38525 | — | 6.431 | — |
| 6,250 | 6.3778 | — | 6.42325 | — |
| 6,500 | 6.36691 | — | 6.41207 | — |
| 6,750 | 6.36165 | — | 6.40838 | — |
| 7,000 | 6.34741 | — | 6.39416 | — |
| 7,250 | 6.34213 | — | 6.39008 | — |
| 7,500 | 6.33801 | — | 6.38655 | — |
| 7,750 | 6.32711 | — | 6.37616 | — |
| 8,000 | 6.3207 | — | 6.37066 | — |
| 8,250 | 6.3071 | — | 6.35829 | — |
| 8,500 | 6.30117 | — | 6.35189 | — |
| 8,750 | 6.29348 | — | 6.34591 | — |
| 9,000 | 6.28187 | — | 6.33411 | — |
| 9,250 | 6.2649 | — | 6.31905 | — |
| 9,500 | 6.25528 | — | 6.30961 | — |
| 9,750 | 6.25096 | — | 6.30526 | — |
| 10,000 | 6.23301 | 6.15348 | 6.28913 | 6.22215 |
| 10,250 | 6.22786 | — | 6.28416 | — |
| 10,500 | 5.98752 | — | 6.09119 | — |
| 10,750 | 4.99507 | — | 5.29948 | — |
| 11,000 | 4.83642 | — | 5.17629 | — |
| 11,250 | 4.74897 | — | 5.10905 | — |
| 11,500 | 4.68281 | — | 5.05897 | — |
| 11,750 | 4.63018 | — | 5.01682 | — |
| 12,000 | 4.58826 | — | 4.98317 | — |
| 12,250 | 4.54662 | — | 4.94988 | — |
| 12,500 | 4.50783 | — | 4.91703 | — |
| 12,750 | 4.48224 | — | 4.90113 | — |
| 13,000 | 4.45022 | — | 4.87305 | — |
| 13,250 | 4.43033 | — | 4.85846 | — |
| 13,500 | 4.40326 | — | 4.83758 | — |
| 13,750 | 4.39858 | — | 4.83591 | — |
| 14,000 | 4.37625 | — | 4.81604 | — |
| 14,250 | 4.36535 | — | 4.8072 | — |
| 14,500 | 4.35465 | — | 4.80025 | — |
| 14,750 | 4.33096 | — | 4.78355 | — |
| 15,000 | 4.32014 | 3.87222 | 4.77448 | 4.4307 |
| 15,250 | 4.28448 | — | 4.74433 | — |
| 15,500 | 4.26551 | — | 4.72949 | — |
| 15,625 | 4.24431 | 3.81132 | 4.7109 | 4.38026 |
Observed loss components — weighted contributions
Only contributions actually added to the objective are shown; raw values and subcomponents remain in training metrics. regularization_loss is the subtotal of mu, weighted TWeo, JTok-M and StackMemory entropy, excluding NITP/NextLat; do not add it again to those components. JTok-M auxiliary loss is training-only.
| Step | Phase | mu | TWeo | NITP | Reg. subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | train | 3.15217e-10 | 8.85082e-07 | 0.989407 | 8.85397e-07 |
| 250 | train | 3.73292e-06 | 0.00123591 | 0.199023 | 0.00123965 |
| 500 | train | 8.67309e-06 | 0.000489802 | 0.381402 | 0.000498475 |
| 750 | train | 1.46084e-05 | 0.000645963 | 0.422095 | 0.000660571 |
| 1,000 | train | 2.19271e-05 | 0.000853222 | 0.45175 | 0.000875149 |
| 1,250 | train | 3.00306e-05 | 0.00107691 | 0.467909 | 0.00110694 |
| 1,500 | train | 3.78419e-05 | 0.00137081 | 0.479092 | 0.00140865 |
| 1,750 | train | 4.50641e-05 | 0.00167613 | 0.479939 | 0.0017212 |
| 2,000 | train | 5.17696e-05 | 0.00195085 | 0.47627 | 0.00200262 |
| 2,250 | train | 5.86737e-05 | 0.00217424 | 0.470216 | 0.00223291 |
| 2,500 | train | 6.65358e-05 | 0.0022861 | 0.460232 | 0.00235263 |
| 2,750 | train | 7.55516e-05 | 0.00232904 | 0.448046 | 0.00240459 |
| 3,000 | train | 8.65665e-05 | 0.00233349 | 0.436928 | 0.00242006 |
| 3,250 | train | 0.000101063 | 0.00227577 | 0.426803 | 0.00237683 |
| 3,500 | train | 0.00011896 | 0.00214756 | 0.423927 | 0.00226652 |
| 3,750 | train | 0.000140306 | 0.002038 | 0.420206 | 0.00217831 |
| 4,000 | train | 0.000165066 | 0.00194413 | 0.418951 | 0.0021092 |
| 4,250 | train | 0.000194861 | 0.0017438 | 0.414625 | 0.00193866 |
| 4,500 | train | 0.000232431 | 0.00167878 | 0.411586 | 0.00191121 |
| 4,750 | train | 0.000278571 | 0.0015199 | 0.408931 | 0.00179847 |
| 5,000 | train | 0.000333497 | 0.00136128 | 0.405027 | 0.00169478 |
| 5,000 | validation | 0.000364807 | 0.00445405 | 0.567271 | 0.00481886 |
| 5,250 | train | 0.000397402 | 0.00126008 | 0.403805 | 0.00165748 |
| 5,500 | train | 0.000464144 | 0.00113831 | 0.401809 | 0.00160246 |
| 5,750 | train | 0.000533964 | 0.00105294 | 0.399665 | 0.0015869 |
| 6,000 | train | 0.0006026 | 0.000934447 | 0.395382 | 0.00153705 |
| 6,250 | train | 0.000667589 | 0.000857554 | 0.393142 | 0.00152514 |
| 6,500 | train | 0.000727096 | 0.000791855 | 0.391478 | 0.00151895 |
| 6,750 | train | 0.000783413 | 0.000742837 | 0.390892 | 0.00152625 |
| 7,000 | train | 0.000839761 | 0.000718544 | 0.38874 | 0.0015583 |
| 7,250 | train | 0.000892616 | 0.000736747 | 0.388637 | 0.00162936 |
| 7,500 | train | 0.000940995 | 0.000717072 | 0.390372 | 0.00165807 |
| 7,750 | train | 0.000980058 | 0.000689226 | 0.391288 | 0.00166928 |
| 8,000 | train | 0.00101025 | 0.000673191 | 0.39142 | 0.00168344 |
| 8,250 | train | 0.00103412 | 0.000637854 | 0.392951 | 0.00167197 |
| 8,500 | train | 0.00105137 | 0.000579414 | 0.39334 | 0.00163079 |
| 8,750 | train | 0.00106911 | 0.000537723 | 0.393394 | 0.00160683 |
| 9,000 | train | 0.00108875 | 0.000505026 | 0.394151 | 0.00159378 |
| 9,250 | train | 0.00110437 | 0.00047421 | 0.394137 | 0.00157859 |
| 9,500 | train | 0.00111756 | 0.000446753 | 0.394824 | 0.00156432 |
| 9,750 | train | 0.00112671 | 0.00041636 | 0.395211 | 0.00154307 |
| 10,000 | train | 0.0011306 | 0.00038917 | 0.395094 | 0.00151977 |
| 10,000 | validation | 0.00113129 | 0.00109173 | 0.586116 | 0.00222302 |
| 10,250 | train | 0.00113103 | 0.000368104 | 0.393761 | 0.00149914 |
| 10,500 | train | 0.00113422 | 0.000535544 | 0.42566 | 0.00166977 |
| 10,750 | train | 0.00115112 | 0.000529416 | 0.387781 | 0.00168053 |
| 11,000 | train | 0.00113757 | 0.000359662 | 0.374953 | 0.00149723 |
| 11,250 | train | 0.00111374 | 0.00029127 | 0.37598 | 0.00140501 |
| 11,500 | train | 0.00108693 | 0.00025111 | 0.379912 | 0.00133804 |
| 11,750 | train | 0.00106742 | 0.000223842 | 0.383783 | 0.00129126 |
| 12,000 | train | 0.00104938 | 0.000209719 | 0.388213 | 0.0012591 |
| 12,250 | train | 0.00102569 | 0.000207818 | 0.391538 | 0.0012335 |
| 12,500 | train | 0.00100141 | 0.000200826 | 0.396153 | 0.00120224 |
| 12,750 | train | 0.000984945 | 0.000199516 | 0.400149 | 0.00118446 |
| 13,000 | train | 0.000973787 | 0.000204766 | 0.404183 | 0.00117855 |
| 13,250 | train | 0.00096588 | 0.000214577 | 0.407961 | 0.00118046 |
| 13,500 | train | 0.000960328 | 0.000234133 | 0.410719 | 0.00119446 |
| 13,750 | train | 0.00095725 | 0.000249427 | 0.41469 | 0.00120668 |
| 14,000 | train | 0.000963165 | 0.000276272 | 0.418295 | 0.00123944 |
| 14,250 | train | 0.000975121 | 0.000304745 | 0.420725 | 0.00127987 |
| 14,500 | train | 0.00098893 | 0.000333744 | 0.422681 | 0.00132267 |
| 14,750 | train | 0.00100775 | 0.00037004 | 0.423986 | 0.00137779 |
| 15,000 | train | 0.00102777 | 0.000389596 | 0.425814 | 0.00141737 |
| 15,000 | validation | 0.00103705 | 0.000423607 | 0.397243 | 0.00146065 |
| 15,250 | train | 0.00104482 | 0.000394994 | 0.426315 | 0.00143981 |
| 15,500 | train | 0.00105605 | 0.000392557 | 0.426342 | 0.00144861 |
| 15,625 | train | 0.00106163 | 0.000381018 | 0.426175 | 0.00144265 |
| 15,625 | validation | 0.00106291 | 0.000419964 | 0.396201 | 0.00148288 |
Tables use exact logged steps; missing values are — without carrying values forward. Repeated evaluations at one step use the latest logged value. Components average batch scalars weighted by examples; CE/PPL token metrics retain their valid-target weighting. Weight decay/CWD act in the optimizer, outside these forward losses.
Limitations
- Token budget — ~1.5 B tokens seen; below estimated optimum. Knowledge-intensive tasks will improve with more training.
- Gradient spike at step 40k — Reorganized the attention pattern in layer 9 that previously captured long-range token correlations. A checkpoint from ~step 38k is expected to have better aggregate benchmark scores.
- PolyNorm exclusivity — The quadratic branch has become partially redundant with the linear branch. Will be corrected in the next training run.
- Base model only — Not instruction-tuned or aligned; purely a next-token-prediction base model.
References
All papers whose techniques are integrated into NeoLLM's architecture, training objective, or training stack:
| Area | Technique | Paper title | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embeddings | Learnable Multipliers | Freeing the Scale of Language Model Matrix Layers | arXiv:2601.04890 |
| Embeddings | Leviathan | A Separable Architecture for Continuous Token Representation in Language Models | arXiv:2601.22040 |
| Embeddings / residual modulation | JTok / JTok-M | JTok: On Token Embedding as another Axis of Scaling Law via Joint Token Self-modulation | arXiv:2602.00800 |
| Embeddings | KHRONOS | KHRONOS: a Kernel-Based Neural Architecture for Rapid, Resource-Efficient Scientific Computation | arXiv:2505.13315 |
| Embeddings | Spelling Bee | Spelling Bee Embeddings for Language Modeling | arXiv:2601.18030 |
| Embeddings | Token embedding analysis | Token Embeddings Violate the Manifold Hypothesis | arXiv:2504.01002 |
| Attention / positions | FAN | Fourier Analysis Networks | arXiv:2502.21309 |
| Attention / positions | MEA | Explicit Multi-head Attention for Inter-head Interaction in Large Language Models | arXiv:2601.19611 |
| Attention / positions | LUCID | Attention with Preconditioned Representations | arXiv:2602.10410 |
| Attention / positions | Affine-Scaled Attention | Affine-Scaled Attention: Towards Flexible and Stable Transformer Attention | arXiv:2602.23057 |
| Attention / positions | XSA | Exclusive Self Attention | arXiv:2603.09078 |
| Attention / positions | Directional Routing | Directional Routing in Transformers | arXiv:2603.14923 |
| Attention / positions | Gated Attention | Gated Attention for Large Language Models: Non-linearity, Sparsity, and Attention-Sink-Free | arXiv:2505.06708 |
| Attention / positions | Momentum Attention | Momentum Attention | arXiv:2411.03884 |
| Attention / positions | IHA | Interleaved Head Attention | arXiv:2602.21371 |
| Attention / positions | REPO | Language Models with Context Re-Positioning | arXiv:2512.14391 |
| Attention / positions | GRAPE | Group Representational Position Encoding | arXiv:2512.07805 |
| Attention / positions | GOAT priors | You Need Better Attention Priors | arXiv:2601.15380 |
| Attention / positions | Hadamard o_proj | Rethinking Attention Output Projection: Structured Hadamard Transforms for Efficient Transformers | arXiv:2603.08343 |
| Residual / normalization | SeeDNorm | Self-Rescaled Dynamic Normalization | arXiv:2510.22777 |
| Residual / normalization | LNS | The Curse of Depth in LLMs | arXiv:2502.05795 |
| Residual / normalization | GPAS | Gradient-Preserving Activation Scaling | arXiv:2506.22049 |
| Residual / normalization | PolyNorm | PolyNorm / PolyCom | arXiv:2602.04902 |
| Residual / normalization | SimpleGPT | SimpleGPT | arXiv:2602.01212 |
| Residual / normalization | StackMemory / STACKTRANS | Recursive Transformer: Boosting Reasoning Ability with State Stack | NeurIPS 2025 |
| Residual / normalization | Attention Residuals | Attention Residuals | arXiv:2603.15031 |
| Residual / normalization | Linear Depth Memory | Depth Memory | arXiv:2610.18809 |
| Residual / normalization | LAUREL | LAUREL: Learned Augmented Residual Layer | arXiv:2411.07501 |
| Objectives | TWEO | Transformers Without Extreme Outliers Enables FP8 Training And Quantization For Dummies | arXiv:2511.23225 |
| Objectives | NITP | Next Implicit Token Prediction for LLM Pre-training | arXiv:2605.24956 |
| Objectives | NextLat | Next-Latent Prediction Transformers Learn Compact World Models | arXiv:2511.05963 |
| Optimizer / training | AdEMAMix | The AdEMAMix Optimizer: Better, Faster, Older | arXiv:2409.03137 |
| Optimizer / training | DeltaMomentum | DeltaMomentum: A Key-Value based Anisotropic Momentum Update via Delta Rule | arXiv:2608.19491 |
| Optimizer / training | BF16 + SR | Stochastic Rounding for LLM Training: Theory and Practice | arXiv:2502.20566 |
| Optimizer / training | CWD | Cautious Weight Decay | arXiv:2510.12402 |
| Optimizer / training | WD correction | Correction of Decoupled Weight Decay | arXiv:2512.08217 |
| Optimizer / training | AdamHD | AdamHD: Decoupled Huber Decay Regularization for Language Model Pre-Training | arXiv:2511.14721 |
| Optimizer / training | GradientStabilizer | GradientStabilizer | arXiv:2502.17055 |
Citation
@misc{neollm2026,
title = {NeoLLM: A Research Language Model Integrating Recent Attention and Normalization Techniques},
author = {KitsuVp},
year = {2026},
url = {https://huggingface.co/KitsuVp/NeoLLM}
}
Author
@Kyokopom on X
License
Apache 2.0
- Downloads last month
- 466