OpenAI's Dean Ball clarifies his distillation take is real, not cope

deanwball · x · 2026-10-18

In a follow-up, Dean Ball explains why he hadn't publicly shared his updated view on distillation's role: he expected predictable "you're just saying that because you work at OpenAI" replies. He stresses the assessment holds true regardless of whether one thinks it's good or bad.

Related event: OpenAI staff says distillation explains about half of Chinese models' catch-up(4 posts)→

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