Scaling depth 3x means 81x params: Ryan Greenblatt on looped transformer scaling

RyanGreenblatt · x · 2026-09-04

In an X exchange on looped transformers, Ryan Greenblatt notes that scaling the architecture "normally" means each 3x increase in depth yields an 81x increase in parameters (likely active params, though details are fuzzy) — challenging the naive assumption that depth is a cheap axis to scale.

Related event: Greenblatt: 3x Depth Gain Comes From Architecture, Not Parameter Scaling(4 posts)→

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