Stanford prof: DNA model GPN-STAR defies bitter lesson narrative, ignored for a year

anshulkundaje · x · 2026-09-10

Stanford professor Anshul Kundaje argues GPN-STAR, a DNA language model (DNALM), "goes completely against the entire narrative of bitter lesson, no inductive biases, scaling laws" — yet performs spectacularly for its class.

He notes the preprint has been out for a year while VCs, AI/GPU CEOs and influencers stay silent about it, preferring to hype behemoth models measured by parameters and GPU hours. His point: the field systematically overlooks small, inductive-bias-heavy approaches that actually work.

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