NeoLLM
NeoLLM is a 85.09 M parameter decoder-only language model trained from scratch on FineWeb-Edu with BF16 compute, completing training in approximately ~0h 47m 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'} |
| 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 | 85.09M (85,093,304) |
| Embedding parameters (tied) | 32.97M (32,973,824) |
| Non-embedding parameters | 52.12M (52,119,480) |
| Effective trainable parameters | 85.09M (85,093,304) |
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 = 52.12M.
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; 15625 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: 85,091,128 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; 15625 committed updates |
| Learning rate | 1e-03 with 4,000-step linear warmup |
| Weight decay | coefficients [0.005, 0.01, 0.1]; WD 5/5 groups; CWD 2; Huber 0; Correction 0 |
| Training time | ~0h 47m |
| 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 | 12.2845 | — | 12.2845 | — |
| 250 | 7.51328 | — | 7.50593 | — |
| 500 | 7.37632 | — | 7.36168 | — |
| 750 | 7.33534 | — | 7.31743 | — |
| 1,000 | 7.2956 | — | 7.27509 | — |
| 1,250 | 7.25757 | — | 7.2354 | — |
| 1,500 | 7.22776 | — | 7.20332 | — |
| 1,750 | 7.18971 | — | 7.16376 | — |
| 2,000 | 7.16679 | — | 7.13879 | — |
| 2,250 | 7.15075 | — | 7.12142 | — |
| 2,500 | 7.1182 | — | 7.08786 | — |
| 2,750 | 7.09542 | — | 7.064 | — |
| 3,000 | 7.07595 | — | 7.0437 | — |
| 3,250 | 7.05828 | — | 7.02471 | — |
| 3,500 | 7.04374 | — | 7.00896 | — |
| 3,750 | 7.03011 | — | 6.99452 | — |
| 4,000 | 7.01765 | — | 6.98176 | — |
| 4,250 | 7.00604 | — | 6.96907 | — |
| 4,500 | 6.99175 | — | 6.95386 | — |
| 4,750 | 6.97323 | — | 6.93439 | — |
| 5,000 | 6.95435 | 7.03772 | 6.91428 | 6.97998 |
| 5,250 | 6.94098 | — | 6.90037 | — |
| 5,500 | 6.9301 | — | 6.88864 | — |
| 5,750 | 6.91726 | — | 6.87426 | — |
| 6,000 | 6.905 | — | 6.86125 | — |
| 6,250 | 6.89508 | — | 6.85136 | — |
| 6,500 | 6.8811 | — | 6.8378 | — |
| 6,750 | 6.87753 | — | 6.8327 | — |
| 7,000 | 6.86382 | — | 6.81881 | — |
| 7,250 | 6.85904 | — | 6.81314 | — |
| 7,500 | 6.85565 | — | 6.8089 | — |
| 7,750 | 6.84594 | — | 6.79925 | — |
| 8,000 | 6.8399 | — | 6.79186 | — |
| 8,250 | 6.8271 | — | 6.77829 | — |
| 8,500 | 6.82443 | — | 6.77634 | — |
| 8,750 | 6.8251 | — | 6.77586 | — |
| 9,000 | 6.81961 | — | 6.77061 | — |
| 9,250 | 6.80826 | — | 6.75788 | — |
| 9,500 | 6.80517 | — | 6.75465 | — |
| 9,750 | 6.805 | — | 6.7549 | — |
| 10,000 | 6.79291 | 6.90652 | 6.74131 | 6.83695 |
| 10,250 | 6.79435 | — | 6.74302 | — |
| 10,500 | 6.57804 | — | 6.46818 | — |
| 10,750 | 5.64887 | — | 5.30678 | — |
| 11,000 | 5.50961 | — | 5.1322 | — |
| 11,250 | 5.44243 | — | 5.04573 | — |
| 11,500 | 5.39135 | — | 4.97991 | — |
| 11,750 | 5.3537 | — | 4.93408 | — |
| 12,000 | 5.32865 | — | 4.90204 | — |
| 12,250 | 5.29837 | — | 4.86656 | — |
| 12,500 | 5.26806 | — | 4.83252 | — |
| 12,750 | 5.25518 | — | 4.81263 | — |
| 13,000 | 5.22838 | — | 4.78307 | — |
| 13,250 | 5.2163 | — | 4.7663 | — |
| 13,500 | 5.1947 | — | 4.74032 | — |
| 13,750 | 5.19089 | — | 4.73445 | — |
| 14,000 | 5.16889 | — | 4.71043 | — |
| 14,250 | 5.1559 | — | 4.69624 | — |
| 14,500 | 5.14548 | — | 4.68216 | — |
| 14,750 | 5.13203 | — | 4.66433 | — |
| 15,000 | 5.13145 | 4.7568 | 4.66355 | 4.18981 |
| 15,250 | 5.11204 | — | 4.64183 | — |
| 15,500 | 5.10473 | — | 4.63283 | — |
| 15,625 | 5.09438 | 4.7291 | 4.62103 | 4.15709 |
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 | 11.2377 | — | 11.2377 | — |
| 250 | 7.33083 | — | 7.33818 | — |
| 500 | 7.01992 | — | 7.03457 | — |
| 750 | 6.9117 | — | 6.92962 | — |
| 1,000 | 6.84122 | — | 6.86173 | — |
| 1,250 | 6.78967 | — | 6.81184 | — |
| 1,500 | 6.75051 | — | 6.77496 | — |
| 1,750 | 6.71397 | — | 6.73992 | — |
| 2,000 | 6.68534 | — | 6.71334 | — |
| 2,250 | 6.66963 | — | 6.69896 | — |
| 2,500 | 6.64192 | — | 6.67227 | — |
| 2,750 | 6.621 | — | 6.65242 | — |
| 3,000 | 6.60442 | — | 6.63668 | — |
| 3,250 | 6.59009 | — | 6.62366 | — |
| 3,500 | 6.5758 | — | 6.61058 | — |
| 3,750 | 6.55762 | — | 6.59321 | — |
| 4,000 | 6.54081 | — | 6.5767 | — |
| 4,250 | 6.52894 | — | 6.56591 | — |
| 4,500 | 6.51391 | — | 6.5518 | — |
| 4,750 | 6.49645 | — | 6.53529 | — |
| 5,000 | 6.4769 | 6.35905 | 6.51696 | 6.41679 |
| 5,250 | 6.46543 | — | 6.50604 | — |
| 5,500 | 6.45592 | — | 6.49738 | — |
| 5,750 | 6.441 | — | 6.484 | — |
| 6,000 | 6.43025 | — | 6.474 | — |
| 6,250 | 6.42147 | — | 6.4652 | — |
| 6,500 | 6.40953 | — | 6.45284 | — |
| 6,750 | 6.40453 | — | 6.44936 | — |
| 7,000 | 6.39054 | — | 6.43555 | — |
| 7,250 | 6.38482 | — | 6.43072 | — |
| 7,500 | 6.3804 | — | 6.42715 | — |
| 7,750 | 6.36999 | — | 6.41668 | — |
| 8,000 | 6.36302 | — | 6.41106 | — |
| 8,250 | 6.35259 | — | 6.4014 | — |
| 8,500 | 6.35024 | — | 6.39833 | — |
| 8,750 | 6.34786 | — | 6.3971 | — |
| 9,000 | 6.34222 | — | 6.39122 | — |
| 9,250 | 6.32834 | — | 6.37873 | — |
| 9,500 | 6.32368 | — | 6.37419 | — |
| 9,750 | 6.32497 | — | 6.37507 | — |
| 10,000 | 6.31065 | 6.20464 | 6.36225 | 6.27421 |
| 10,250 | 6.31157 | — | 6.3629 | — |
| 10,500 | 6.01485 | — | 6.12471 | — |
| 10,750 | 4.89594 | — | 5.23804 | — |
| 11,000 | 4.72479 | — | 5.1022 | — |
| 11,250 | 4.63385 | — | 5.03055 | — |
| 11,500 | 4.56533 | — | 4.97677 | — |
| 11,750 | 4.5158 | — | 4.93542 | — |
| 12,000 | 4.48125 | — | 4.90787 | — |
| 12,250 | 4.44365 | — | 4.87546 | — |
| 12,500 | 4.40877 | — | 4.84431 | — |
| 12,750 | 4.38846 | — | 4.83101 | — |
| 13,000 | 4.35794 | — | 4.80324 | — |
| 13,250 | 4.33989 | — | 4.78989 | — |
| 13,500 | 4.31309 | — | 4.76746 | — |
| 13,750 | 4.30621 | — | 4.76265 | — |
| 14,000 | 4.28204 | — | 4.7405 | — |
| 14,250 | 4.26676 | — | 4.72641 | — |
| 14,500 | 4.2524 | — | 4.71572 | — |
| 14,750 | 4.23404 | — | 4.70174 | — |
| 15,000 | 4.23243 | 3.78875 | 4.70032 | 4.35574 |
| 15,250 | 4.21065 | — | 4.68087 | — |
| 15,500 | 4.20151 | — | 4.67341 | — |
| 15,625 | 4.18959 | 3.75747 | 4.66293 | 4.32948 |
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 | 3.16275e-10 | 8.85299e-07 | 1.0468 | 8.85615e-07 |
| 250 | train | 4.01168e-06 | 0.00101028 | 0.174095 | 0.00101429 |
| 500 | train | 8.93938e-06 | 0.000425533 | 0.341321 | 0.000434472 |
| 750 | train | 1.49341e-05 | 0.000574217 | 0.405132 | 0.000589151 |
| 1,000 | train | 2.21405e-05 | 0.000717058 | 0.433133 | 0.000739198 |
| 1,250 | train | 3.00225e-05 | 0.000947325 | 0.444758 | 0.000977348 |
| 1,500 | train | 3.7833e-05 | 0.00116823 | 0.451597 | 0.00120607 |
| 1,750 | train | 4.49507e-05 | 0.00147651 | 0.448272 | 0.00152146 |
| 2,000 | train | 5.20222e-05 | 0.00178034 | 0.451619 | 0.00183236 |
| 2,250 | train | 5.97428e-05 | 0.00206258 | 0.449671 | 0.00212232 |
| 2,500 | train | 6.78635e-05 | 0.00220622 | 0.443663 | 0.00227409 |
| 2,750 | train | 7.61504e-05 | 0.00231168 | 0.440618 | 0.00238783 |
| 3,000 | train | 8.58517e-05 | 0.00233333 | 0.436857 | 0.00241919 |
| 3,250 | train | 9.77149e-05 | 0.00236563 | 0.432168 | 0.00246334 |
| 3,500 | train | 0.000110827 | 0.00231476 | 0.430735 | 0.00242559 |
| 3,750 | train | 0.000126875 | 0.00226564 | 0.434512 | 0.00239251 |
| 4,000 | train | 0.000145417 | 0.00211525 | 0.438694 | 0.00226067 |
| 4,250 | train | 0.000167628 | 0.00196029 | 0.437996 | 0.00212792 |
| 4,500 | train | 0.000194782 | 0.00182893 | 0.437925 | 0.00202371 |
| 4,750 | train | 0.000227027 | 0.00170113 | 0.436016 | 0.00192816 |
| 5,000 | train | 0.000263738 | 0.00154546 | 0.435576 | 0.00180919 |
| 5,000 | validation | 0.000283719 | 0.0060813 | 0.614562 | 0.00636502 |
| 5,250 | train | 0.000303911 | 0.00140913 | 0.433229 | 0.00171304 |
| 5,500 | train | 0.000345929 | 0.00130875 | 0.431072 | 0.00165468 |
| 5,750 | train | 0.000391956 | 0.00119768 | 0.431669 | 0.00158963 |
| 6,000 | train | 0.000435046 | 0.00113317 | 0.429428 | 0.00156821 |
| 6,250 | train | 0.000476276 | 0.00107261 | 0.428334 | 0.00154889 |
| 6,500 | train | 0.000520947 | 0.000988251 | 0.426753 | 0.0015092 |
| 6,750 | train | 0.000561467 | 0.000925999 | 0.426688 | 0.00148747 |
| 7,000 | train | 0.000600642 | 0.000889937 | 0.426782 | 0.00149058 |
| 7,250 | train | 0.000640212 | 0.000860261 | 0.426819 | 0.00150047 |
| 7,500 | train | 0.000679096 | 0.000852769 | 0.426972 | 0.00153187 |
| 7,750 | train | 0.000715778 | 0.000802992 | 0.427743 | 0.00151877 |
| 8,000 | train | 0.000753992 | 0.00078903 | 0.4273 | 0.00154302 |
| 8,250 | train | 0.000795478 | 0.000771698 | 0.424126 | 0.00156718 |
| 8,500 | train | 0.000837118 | 0.000758088 | 0.424502 | 0.00159521 |
| 8,750 | train | 0.000873988 | 0.00075022 | 0.426376 | 0.00162421 |
| 9,000 | train | 0.000910428 | 0.000754263 | 0.426734 | 0.00166469 |
| 9,250 | train | 0.000944036 | 0.000730808 | 0.427862 | 0.00167484 |
| 9,500 | train | 0.000975691 | 0.00071411 | 0.429285 | 0.0016898 |
| 9,750 | train | 0.00100823 | 0.000682743 | 0.428235 | 0.00169098 |
| 10,000 | train | 0.00104292 | 0.000664123 | 0.428943 | 0.00170704 |
| 10,000 | validation | 0.00106212 | 0.0022162 | 0.629043 | 0.00327832 |
| 10,250 | train | 0.00108166 | 0.000681578 | 0.429688 | 0.00176324 |
| 10,500 | train | 0.0011197 | 0.00105885 | 0.451152 | 0.00217854 |
| 10,750 | train | 0.00114721 | 0.000800759 | 0.408884 | 0.00194796 |
| 11,000 | train | 0.00114271 | 0.000609513 | 0.405662 | 0.00175222 |
| 11,250 | train | 0.00112443 | 0.000589441 | 0.410163 | 0.00171387 |
| 11,500 | train | 0.00110764 | 0.000626262 | 0.412851 | 0.0017339 |
| 11,750 | train | 0.0011031 | 0.0007034 | 0.416477 | 0.0018065 |
| 12,000 | train | 0.00110705 | 0.000701879 | 0.418976 | 0.00180893 |
| 12,250 | train | 0.00111366 | 0.000731281 | 0.42106 | 0.00184494 |
| 12,500 | train | 0.00112138 | 0.000758367 | 0.421869 | 0.00187974 |
| 12,750 | train | 0.00113102 | 0.000750959 | 0.422287 | 0.00188198 |
| 13,000 | train | 0.00114004 | 0.000732814 | 0.423269 | 0.00187286 |
| 13,250 | train | 0.0011468 | 0.000694571 | 0.424568 | 0.00184138 |
| 13,500 | train | 0.00115065 | 0.000657363 | 0.425431 | 0.00180801 |
| 13,750 | train | 0.00115104 | 0.000615922 | 0.426476 | 0.00176697 |
| 14,000 | train | 0.00115097 | 0.000595539 | 0.42664 | 0.00174651 |
| 14,250 | train | 0.00115072 | 0.000557399 | 0.427775 | 0.00170812 |
| 14,500 | train | 0.00114966 | 0.000522873 | 0.428093 | 0.00167254 |
| 14,750 | train | 0.00115023 | 0.000500229 | 0.428635 | 0.00165046 |
| 15,000 | train | 0.00115158 | 0.000471158 | 0.429507 | 0.00162274 |
| 15,000 | validation | 0.00115209 | 0.000515729 | 0.399388 | 0.00166782 |
| 15,250 | train | 0.00115244 | 0.000452634 | 0.429571 | 0.00160508 |
| 15,500 | train | 0.00115244 | 0.000431864 | 0.429741 | 0.00158431 |
| 15,625 | train | 0.00115257 | 0.000415416 | 0.429879 | 0.00156799 |
| 15,625 | validation | 0.00115263 | 0.000468992 | 0.397996 | 0.00162163 |
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 | 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
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