Llama-Nemotron: Efficient Reasoning Models

We introduce the Llama-Nemotron series of models, an open family of heterogeneous reasoning models that deliver exceptional reasoning capabilities, inference efficiency, and an open license for enterprise use. The family comes in three sizes -- Nano (8B), Super (49B), and Ultra (253B) -- and performs competitively with state-of-the-art reasoning models such as DeepSeek-R1 while offering superior inference throughput and memory efficiency. In this report, we discuss the training procedure for these models, which entails using neural architecture search from Llama 3 models for accelerated inference, knowledge distillation, and continued pretraining, followed by a reasoning-focused post-training stage consisting of two main parts: supervised fine-tuning and large scale reinforcement learning. Llama-Nemotron models are the first open-source models to support a dynamic reasoning toggle, allowing users to switch between standard chat and reasoning modes during inference. To further support open research and facilitate model development, we provide the following resources: 1. We release the Llama-Nemotron reasoning models -- LN-Nano, LN-Super, and LN-Ultra -- under the commercially permissive NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement. 2. We release the complete post-training dataset: Llama-Nemotron-Post-Training-Dataset. 3. We also release our training codebases: NeMo, NeMo-Aligner, and Megatron-LM.

The NVIDIA PilotNet Experiments

Four years ago, an experimental system known as PilotNet became the first NVIDIA system to steer an autonomous car along a roadway. This system represents a departure from the classical approach for self-driving in which the process is manually decomposed into a series of modules, each performing a different task. In PilotNet, on the other hand, a single deep neural network (DNN) takes pixels as input and produces a desired vehicle trajectory as output; there are no distinct internal modules connected by human-designed interfaces. We believe that handcrafted interfaces ultimately limit performance by restricting information flow through the system and that a learned approach, in combination with other artificial intelligence systems that add redundancy, will lead to better overall performing systems. We continue to conduct research toward that goal. This document describes the PilotNet lane-keeping effort, carried out over the past five years by our NVIDIA PilotNet group in Holmdel, New Jersey. Here we present a snapshot of system status in mid-2020 and highlight some of the work done by the PilotNet group.