Distillation is necessary but not sufficient, and it drains rivals' capital
fleetwood___ · x · 2026-09-25
In a debate about whether model gains come "largely" from distillation, the author argues distillation is a necessary but not sufficient component of training strong models. Its strategic value: exhausting competitors of significant capital, since human-annotated data is the most expensive part (citing Mercor's revenue as evidence). The author concedes IQ-level gains aren't mostly from distillation, but says the strategy gives Chinese labs an advantage.
Related event: AI Researchers Debate Whether Distillation Drives China's Model Gains(5 posts)→
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