Yuxiang Zheng

Yixiu Liu, Yuxiang Zheng, Shijie Xia et al.

The deployment of Large Language Models (LLMs) in content generation raises significant safety concerns, particularly regarding the transparency and interpretability of content evaluations. Current methods, primarily focused on binary safety classifications, lack mechanisms for detailed critique, limiting their utility for model improvement and user trust. To address these limitations, we introduce SAFETY-J, a bilingual generative safety evaluator for English and Chinese with critique-based judgment. SAFETY-J utilizes a robust training dataset that includes diverse dialogues and augmented query-response pairs to assess safety across various scenarios comprehensively. We establish an automated meta-evaluation benchmark that objectively assesses the quality of critiques with minimal human intervention, facilitating scalable and continuous improvement. Additionally, SAFETY-J employs an iterative preference learning technique to dynamically refine safety assessments based on meta-evaluations and critiques. Our evaluations demonstrate that SAFETY-J provides more nuanced and accurate safety evaluations, thereby enhancing both critique quality and predictive reliability in complex content scenarios. To facilitate further research and application, we open-source SAFETY-J's training protocols, datasets, and code at https://github.com/GAIR-NLP/Safety-J.

Yuxiang Zheng, Dayuan Fu, Xiangkun Hu et al.

Large Language Models (LLMs) equipped with web search capabilities have demonstrated impressive potential for deep research tasks. However, current approaches predominantly rely on either manually engineered prompts (prompt engineering-based) with brittle performance or reinforcement learning within controlled Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) environments (RAG-based) that fail to capture the complexities of real-world interaction. In this paper, we introduce DeepResearcher, the first comprehensive framework for end-to-end training of LLM-based deep research agents through scaling reinforcement learning (RL) in real-world environments with authentic web search interactions. Unlike RAG-based approaches that assume all necessary information exists within a fixed corpus, our method trains agents to navigate the noisy, unstructured, and dynamic nature of the open web. We implement a specialized multi-agent architecture where browsing agents extract relevant information from various webpage structures and overcoming significant technical challenges. Extensive experiments on open-domain research tasks demonstrate that DeepResearcher achieves substantial improvements of up to 28.9 points over prompt engineering-based baselines and up to 7.2 points over RAG-based RL agents. Our qualitative analysis reveals emergent cognitive behaviors from end-to-end RL training, including the ability to formulate plans, cross-validate information from multiple sources, engage in self-reflection to redirect research, and maintain honesty when unable to find definitive answers. Our results highlight that end-to-end training in real-world web environments is not merely an implementation detail but a fundamental requirement for developing robust research capabilities aligned with real-world applications. We release DeepResearcher at https://github.com/GAIR-NLP/DeepResearcher.

Yuxiang Zheng, Zhongyi Han, Yilong Yin et al.

Noisy labels significantly hinder the accuracy and generalization of machine learning models, particularly when resulting from ambiguous instance features that complicate correct labeling. Traditional approaches, such as those relying on transition matrices for label correction, often struggle to effectively resolve such ambiguity, due to their inability to capture complex relationships between instances and noisy labels. In this paper, we propose EchoAlign, a paradigm shift in learning from noisy labels. Unlike previous methods that attempt to correct labels, EchoAlign treats noisy labels ($\tilde{Y}$) as accurate and modifies corresponding instances ($X$) to better align with these labels. The EchoAlign framework comprises two main components: (1) EchoMod leverages controllable generative models to selectively modify instance features, achieving alignment with noisy labels while preserving intrinsic instance characteristics such as shape, texture, and semantic identity. (2) EchoSelect mitigates distribution shifts introduced by instance modifications by strategically retaining a substantial subset of original instances with correct labels. Specifically, EchoSelect exploits feature similarity distributions between original and modified instances to accurately distinguish between correctly and incorrectly labeled samples. Extensive experiments across three benchmark datasets demonstrate that EchoAlign significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods, particularly in high-noise environments, achieving superior accuracy and robustness. Notably, under 30% instance-dependent noise, EchoSelect retains nearly twice the number of correctly labeled samples compared to previous methods, maintaining 99% selection accuracy, thereby clearly illustrating the effectiveness of EchoAlign. The implementation of EchoAlign is publicly available at https://github.com/KevinCarpricorn/EchoAlign/tree/main.

Tianyu Fan, Fengji Zhang, Yuxiang Zheng et al.

The application of Large Language Models (LLMs) in accelerating scientific discovery has garnered increasing attention, with a key focus on constructing research agents endowed with innovative capability, i.e., the ability to autonomously generate novel and significant research ideas. Existing approaches predominantly rely on sophisticated prompt engineering and lack a systematic training paradigm. To address this, we propose DeepInnovator, a training framework designed to trigger the innovative capability of LLMs. Our approach comprises two core components. (1) ``Standing on the shoulders of giants''. We construct an automated data extraction pipeline to extract and organize structured research knowledge from a vast corpus of unlabeled scientific literature. (2) ``Conjectures and refutations''. We introduce a ``Next Idea Prediction'' training paradigm, which models the generation of research ideas as an iterative process of continuously predicting, evaluating, and refining plausible and novel next idea. Both automatic and expert evaluations demonstrate that our DeepInnovator-14B significantly outperforms untrained baselines, achieving win rates of 80.53\%-93.81\%, and attains performance comparable to that of current leading LLMs. This work provides a scalable training pathway toward building research agents with genuine, originative innovative capability, and will open-source the dataset to foster community advancement. Source code and data are available at: https://github.com/HKUDS/DeepInnovator.

Tianyu Fan, Xinyao Niu, Yuxiang Zheng et al.

DeepResearch agents represent a transformative AI paradigm, conducting expert-level research through sophisticated reasoning and multi-tool integration. However, evaluating these systems remains critically challenging due to open-ended research scenarios and existing benchmarks that focus on isolated capabilities rather than holistic performance. Unlike traditional LLM tasks, DeepResearch systems must synthesize diverse sources, generate insights, and present coherent findings, which are capabilities that resist simple verification. To address this gap, we introduce DeepResearch-ReportEval, a comprehensive framework designed to assess DeepResearch systems through their most representative outputs: research reports. Our approach systematically measures three dimensions: quality, redundancy, and factuality, using an innovative LLM-as-a-Judge methodology achieving strong expert concordance. We contribute a standardized benchmark of 100 curated queries spanning 12 real-world categories, enabling systematic capability comparison. Our evaluation of four leading commercial systems reveals distinct design philosophies and performance trade-offs, establishing foundational insights as DeepResearch evolves from information assistants toward intelligent research partners. Source code and data are available at: https://github.com/HKUDS/DeepResearch-Eval.

Zhen Huang, Zengzhi Wang, Shijie Xia et al.

The evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been significantly accelerated by advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) and Large Multimodal Models (LMMs), gradually showcasing potential cognitive reasoning abilities in problem-solving and scientific discovery (i.e., AI4Science) once exclusive to human intellect. To comprehensively evaluate current models' performance in cognitive reasoning abilities, we introduce OlympicArena, which includes 11,163 bilingual problems across both text-only and interleaved text-image modalities. These challenges encompass a wide range of disciplines spanning seven fields and 62 international Olympic competitions, rigorously examined for data leakage. We argue that the challenges in Olympic competition problems are ideal for evaluating AI's cognitive reasoning due to their complexity and interdisciplinary nature, which are essential for tackling complex scientific challenges and facilitating discoveries. Beyond evaluating performance across various disciplines using answer-only criteria, we conduct detailed experiments and analyses from multiple perspectives. We delve into the models' cognitive reasoning abilities, their performance across different modalities, and their outcomes in process-level evaluations, which are vital for tasks requiring complex reasoning with lengthy solutions. Our extensive evaluations reveal that even advanced models like GPT-4o only achieve a 39.97% overall accuracy, illustrating current AI limitations in complex reasoning and multimodal integration. Through the OlympicArena, we aim to advance AI towards superintelligence, equipping it to address more complex challenges in science and beyond. We also provide a comprehensive set of resources to support AI research, including a benchmark dataset, an open-source annotation platform, a detailed evaluation tool, and a leaderboard with automatic submission features.

Zhen Huang, Haoyang Zou, Xuefeng Li et al.

This paper presents a critical examination of current approaches to replicating OpenAI's O1 model capabilities, with particular focus on the widespread but often undisclosed use of knowledge distillation techniques. While our previous work explored the fundamental technical path to O1 replication, this study reveals how simple distillation from O1's API, combined with supervised fine-tuning, can achieve superior performance on complex mathematical reasoning tasks. Through extensive experiments, we show that a base model fine-tuned on simply tens of thousands of samples O1-distilled long-thought chains outperforms O1-preview on the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) with minimal technical complexity. Moreover, our investigation extends beyond mathematical reasoning to explore the generalization capabilities of O1-distilled models across diverse tasks: hallucination, safety and open-domain QA. Notably, despite training only on mathematical problem-solving data, our models demonstrated strong generalization to open-ended QA tasks and became significantly less susceptible to sycophancy after fine-tuning. We deliberately make this finding public to promote transparency in AI research and to challenge the current trend of obscured technical claims in the field. Our work includes: (1) A detailed technical exposition of the distillation process and its effectiveness, (2) A comprehensive benchmark framework for evaluating and categorizing O1 replication attempts based on their technical transparency and reproducibility, (3) A critical discussion of the limitations and potential risks of over-relying on distillation approaches, our analysis culminates in a crucial bitter lesson: while the pursuit of more capable AI systems is important, the development of researchers grounded in first-principles thinking is paramount.

Hamed Hemati, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Xiaotian Duan et al.

Continual learning (CL) provides a framework for training models in ever-evolving environments. Although re-occurrence of previously seen objects or tasks is common in real-world problems, the concept of repetition in the data stream is not often considered in standard benchmarks for CL. Unlike with the rehearsal mechanism in buffer-based strategies, where sample repetition is controlled by the strategy, repetition in the data stream naturally stems from the environment. This report provides a summary of the CLVision challenge at CVPR 2023, which focused on the topic of repetition in class-incremental learning. The report initially outlines the challenge objective and then describes three solutions proposed by finalist teams that aim to effectively exploit the repetition in the stream to learn continually. The experimental results from the challenge highlight the effectiveness of ensemble-based solutions that employ multiple versions of similar modules, each trained on different but overlapping subsets of classes. This report underscores the transformative potential of taking a different perspective in CL by employing repetition in the data stream to foster innovative strategy design.

Lyumanshan Ye, Xiaojie Cai, Xinkai Wang et al.

This paper introduces "Interaction as Intelligence" research series, presenting a reconceptualization of human-AI relationships in deep research tasks. Traditional approaches treat interaction merely as an interface for accessing AI capabilities-a conduit between human intent and machine output. We propose that interaction itself constitutes a fundamental dimension of intelligence. As AI systems engage in extended thinking processes for research tasks, meaningful interaction transitions from an optional enhancement to an essential component of effective intelligence. Current deep research systems adopt an "input-wait-output" paradigm where users initiate queries and receive results after black-box processing. This approach leads to error cascade effects, inflexible research boundaries that prevent question refinement during investigation, and missed opportunities for expertise integration. To address these limitations, we introduce Deep Cognition, a system that transforms the human role from giving instructions to cognitive oversight-a mode of engagement where humans guide AI thinking processes through strategic intervention at critical junctures. Deep cognition implements three key innovations: (1)Transparent, controllable, and interruptible interaction that reveals AI reasoning and enables intervention at any point; (2)Fine-grained bidirectional dialogue; and (3)Shared cognitive context where the system observes and adapts to user behaviors without explicit instruction. User evaluation demonstrates that this cognitive oversight paradigm outperforms the strongest baseline across six key metrics: Transparency(+20.0%), Fine-Grained Interaction(+29.2%), Real-Time Intervention(+18.5%), Ease of Collaboration(+27.7%), Results-Worth-Effort(+8.8%), and Interruptibility(+20.7%). Evaluations on challenging research problems show 31.8% to 50.0% points of improvements over deep research systems.