Expert Clarifies RL Distillation: SFT and Midtraining Are Key

Nat Lambert refuted the claim that labs use the strongest models as direct teachers for RL distillation. He emphasized that distillation is actually most effective during the SFT and midtraining phases rather than RL.

2026-07-21 ~ 2026-07-22 · 3 related posts

• Nat Lambert says RL distillation does not use the strongest models as teachers — natolambert · 2026-07-21
• Nat Lambert argues distillation mostly matters in SFT and midtraining, not RL — natolambert · 2026-07-22
• Distillation helps, but SFT and midtraining still do the heavy lifting — danielrock · 2026-07-22