World models share one architecture — the tokenizer is where methods diverge

abursuc · x · 2026-09-17

In an SSAD 2026 lecture, the author breaks down the common architecture of modern world models: a tokenizer that compresses state into representations, and a world model module that predicts next states. The key design divergence is what the tokenizer encodes: frozen visual autoencoders, frozen representation encoders, or joint encoder+predictor training without a decoder — choices that explain the differences between approaches like JEPA-style and diffusion world models.

Related event: SSAD 2026 Talks Map World Model Architecture Choices(4 posts)→

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