The LLM Scalability Laws are Broken Again: Llama 2 Falls to the Newcomer, Mistral 7B

In the relentless race of open-source language models, the benchmarks of excellence are constantly being reset. Once, breaking the scalability laws was synonymous with outshining behemoths like Meta/Chinchilla 70B, a prestigious title Llama 2 clinched with pride. But in a twist of events, Llama 2, the erstwhile disruptor, now finds itself outpaced by a novel force: Mistral 7B.

The Evolving Landscape of Open-Source Models

The accelerating competition in the open-source domain is more than a testament to sheer innovation; it's emblematic of a continuous cycle of reinvention. As Mistral 7B rises to prominence, it's clear that this landscape is shifting. With its stellar performance metrics, versatility across tasks, and the allure of open-source adaptability, Mistral 7B encapsulates the fervor of this dynamic ecosystem.

Mistral vs LLama 2 familly benchmark

Mistral 7B’s Notable Triumphs

1. Size and Efficiency: Despite its 7.3B parameters, Mistral 7B consistently overshadows Llama 2’s 13B model across the board. Its prowess even challenges Llama 1’s massive 34B model in several benchmarks.
2. Technical Ingenuity:** The integration of Grouped-query attention (GQA) assures faster inference, while the Sliding Window Attention (SWA) is designed to manage longer sequences with reduced computational demands.
3. Balanced Mastery: Whether it’s code or English tasks, Mistral 7B achieves an enviable equilibrium, mirroring the performance metrics of CodeLlama 7B.
4. Open Source & Versatility: Beyond its performance, Mistral 7B’s adaptability is impressive. With compatibility spanning platforms like AWS, GCP, and Azure, and its availability on HuggingFace, it truly is a model for the masses.

Mistral 7B: A Prelude to the Future of AI & LLM

Beyond benchmarks and technicalities, Mistral 7B paints a promising picture for the future of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs). Its emergence and subsequent dominance hint at the pace at which the AI community is advancing. If a 7B model can pose such stiff competition today, the prospect of similar models outpacing giants like GPT-4 in the foreseeable future becomes ever more plausible.

In Conclusion

The narrative of AI’s evolution is being redefined with each groundbreaking release. Mistral 7B’s ascendancy in this narrative is emblematic of the community’s unyielding drive. As we gaze ahead, the horizon gleams with potential. For skeptics who once doubted the capabilities of smaller models in the shadow of giants like GPT-4, Mistral 7B serves as a compelling counter-narrative, signaling a future rifle with possibilities.

Link to the original blog by mistral https://mistral.ai/news/announcing-mistral-7b/