Core Insights - The article discusses the evolving landscape of large language models (LLMs) as of 2026, highlighting a shift from the dominance of the Transformer architecture to a focus on efficiency and hybrid architectures [1][4][5]. Group 1: Transformer Architecture and Efficiency - The Transformer architecture is expected to maintain its status as the foundation of the AI ecosystem for at least the next few years, supported by mature toolchains and optimization strategies [4]. - Recent developments indicate a shift towards hybrid architectures and efficiency improvements, rather than a complete overhaul of existing models [5]. - The industry is increasingly focusing on mixed architectures and efficiency, as demonstrated by models like DeepSeek V3 and R1, which utilize mixture of experts (MoE) and multi-head latent attention (MLA) to reduce inference costs while maintaining large parameter counts [7]. Group 2: Linear and Sparse Attention Mechanisms - The standard Transformer attention mechanism has a complexity of O(N^2), leading to exponential growth in computational costs with increasing context length [9]. - New models like Qwen3-Next and Kimi Linear are adopting hybrid strategies that combine efficient linear layers with full attention layers to balance long-distance dependencies and inference speed [14]. Group 3: Diffusion Language Models - Diffusion language models (DLMs) are gaining attention for their ability to generate tokens quickly and cost-effectively through parallel generation, contrasting with the serial generation of autoregressive models [12]. - Despite their advantages, DLMs face challenges in integrating tool calls within response chains due to their simultaneous generation nature [15]. - Research indicates that DLMs may outperform autoregressive models when high-quality data is scarce, as they can benefit from multiple training epochs without overfitting [24][25]. Group 4: Data Scarcity and Learning Efficiency - The concept of "Crossover" suggests that while autoregressive models learn faster with ample data, DLMs excel when data is limited, achieving significant accuracy on benchmarks with relatively small datasets [27]. - DLMs demonstrate that increased training epochs do not necessarily lead to a decline in downstream task performance, offering a potential solution in an era of data scarcity [28].

Core Insights - DeepSeek has released two new models, DeepSeek-V3.2 and DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale, which have generated significant interest and discussion in the AI community [2][5][11] - The evolution from DeepSeek V3 to V3.2 includes various architectural improvements and the introduction of new mechanisms aimed at enhancing performance and efficiency [10][131] Release Timeline - The initial release of DeepSeek V3 in December 2024 did not create immediate buzz, but the subsequent release of the DeepSeek R1 model changed the landscape, making DeepSeek a popular alternative to proprietary models from companies like OpenAI and Google [11][14] - The release of DeepSeek V3.2-Exp in September 2025 was seen as a preparatory step for the V3.2 model, focusing on establishing the necessary infrastructure for deployment [17][49] Model Types - DeepSeek V3 was initially launched as a base model, while DeepSeek R1 was developed as a specialized reasoning model through additional training [19][20] - The trend in the industry has seen a shift from hybrid reasoning models to specialized models, with DeepSeek seemingly reversing this trend by moving from specialized (R1) to hybrid models (V3.1 and V3.2) [25] Evolution from V3 to V3.1 - DeepSeek V3 utilized a mixed expert model and multi-head latent attention (MLA) to optimize memory usage during inference [29][30] - DeepSeek R1 focused on Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Rewards (RLVR) to enhance reasoning capabilities, particularly in tasks requiring symbolic verification [37][38] Sparse Attention Mechanism - DeepSeek V3.2-Exp introduced a non-standard sparse attention mechanism, which significantly improved efficiency in training and inference, especially in long-context scenarios [49][68] - The DeepSeek Sparse Attention (DSA) mechanism allows the model to selectively focus on relevant past tokens, reducing computational complexity from quadratic to linear [68] Self-Verification and Self-Correction - DeepSeekMath V2, released shortly before V3.2, introduced self-verification and self-correction techniques to improve the accuracy of mathematical reasoning tasks [71][72] - The self-verification process involves a verifier model that assesses the quality of generated proofs, while self-correction allows the model to iteratively improve its outputs based on feedback [78][92] DeepSeek V3.2 Architecture - DeepSeek V3.2 maintains the architecture of its predecessor, V3.2-Exp, while incorporating improvements aimed at enhancing overall model performance across various tasks, including mathematics and coding [107][110] - The model's training process has been refined to include updates to the RLVR framework, integrating new reward mechanisms for different task types [115][116] Performance Benchmarks - DeepSeek V3.2 has shown competitive performance in various benchmarks, achieving notable results in mathematical tasks and outperforming several proprietary models [127]