Victor Zhong
@vzhong.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at University of Waterloo, CIFAR AI Chair at Vector Institute. Formerly UWNLP, Stanford NLP, MSR, FAIR, Google Brain, Salesforce Research via MetaMind
#machinelearning, #nlp
victorzhong.com
#machinelearning, #nlp
victorzhong.com
Pinned
Victor Zhong
@vzhong.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Reading to Learn Lab at the University of Waterloo
r2llab.com
Hi Bluesky! I am a assistant professor at the University of Waterloo. My lab r2llab.com explores how to improve ML efficiency and generalization using language understanding. I am not super active on social media, but do post occasionally to share our work. Here's what we work on 🧵
I will be at the IVADO agents workshop followed by COLM in Montreal. Please email me if you would like to meet. R2L Lab will be looking for 1-2 graduate students in 2026!
September 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I will be at the IVADO agents workshop followed by COLM in Montreal. Please email me if you would like to meet. R2L Lab will be looking for 1-2 graduate students in 2026!
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Now that school is starting for lots of folks, it's time for a new release of Speech and Language Processing! Jim and I added all sorts of material for the August 2025 release! With slides to match! Check it out here: web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/sl...
Speech and Language Processing
Speech and Language Processing
web.stanford.edu
August 24, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Now that school is starting for lots of folks, it's time for a new release of Speech and Language Processing! Jim and I added all sorts of material for the August 2025 release! With slides to match! Check it out here: web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/sl...
I finally finished it! www.victorzhong.com/writing/refl...
Reflections of a First-year Assistant Professor - Victor Zhong
www.victorzhong.com
August 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I finally finished it! www.victorzhong.com/writing/refl...
Reposted by Victor Zhong
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the organizing committee @sivareddyg.bsky.social, Dawn Song, @yoshuabengio.bsky.social, Alane Suhr, @chrisjpal.bsky.social, @yusu-agent.bsky.social and @vzhong.bsky.social.
August 19, 2025 at 2:38 PM
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the organizing committee @sivareddyg.bsky.social, Dawn Song, @yoshuabengio.bsky.social, Alane Suhr, @chrisjpal.bsky.social, @yusu-agent.bsky.social and @vzhong.bsky.social.
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Do you have a PhD (or equivalent) or will have one in the coming months (i.e. 2-3 months away from graduating)? Do you want to help build open-ended agents that help humans do humans things better, rather than replace them? We're hiring 1-2 Research Scientists! Check the 🧵👇
July 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Do you have a PhD (or equivalent) or will have one in the coming months (i.e. 2-3 months away from graduating)? Do you want to help build open-ended agents that help humans do humans things better, rather than replace them? We're hiring 1-2 Research Scientists! Check the 🧵👇
I think in retrospect ARR might have been a bad idea. Am I hallucinating or is there an exodus of junior NLP researchers from *ACL into ML conferences and COLM?
July 2, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I think in retrospect ARR might have been a bad idea. Am I hallucinating or is there an exodus of junior NLP researchers from *ACL into ML conferences and COLM?
Are you an established professor in AI open to moving to the University of Waterloo? Please DM me directly!
June 18, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Are you an established professor in AI open to moving to the University of Waterloo? Please DM me directly!
Flying out of DCA for the first time and I gotta say - this has ought to be one of the worst airports in North America… so cramped people are literally sitting on the ground or standing shoulder to shoulder
May 16, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Flying out of DCA for the first time and I gotta say - this has ought to be one of the worst airports in North America… so cramped people are literally sitting on the ground or standing shoulder to shoulder
Reposted by Victor Zhong
This is how digital feudalism works.
It offers the illusion of empowerment. Likes become validation. Followers feel like influence. Monetisation looks like success.
But the rules are hidden. The platform decides what rises and what vanishes.
It offers the illusion of empowerment. Likes become validation. Followers feel like influence. Monetisation looks like success.
But the rules are hidden. The platform decides what rises and what vanishes.
May 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM
This is how digital feudalism works.
It offers the illusion of empowerment. Likes become validation. Followers feel like influence. Monetisation looks like success.
But the rules are hidden. The platform decides what rises and what vanishes.
It offers the illusion of empowerment. Likes become validation. Followers feel like influence. Monetisation looks like success.
But the rules are hidden. The platform decides what rises and what vanishes.
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Is Best-of-N really the best we can do for language model inference?
New paper (appearing at ICML) led by the amazing Audrey Huang (ahahaudrey.bsky.social) with Adam Block, Qinghua Liu, Nan Jiang, and Akshay Krishnamurthy (akshaykr.bsky.social).
1/11
New paper (appearing at ICML) led by the amazing Audrey Huang (ahahaudrey.bsky.social) with Adam Block, Qinghua Liu, Nan Jiang, and Akshay Krishnamurthy (akshaykr.bsky.social).
1/11
May 3, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Is Best-of-N really the best we can do for language model inference?
New paper (appearing at ICML) led by the amazing Audrey Huang (ahahaudrey.bsky.social) with Adam Block, Qinghua Liu, Nan Jiang, and Akshay Krishnamurthy (akshaykr.bsky.social).
1/11
New paper (appearing at ICML) led by the amazing Audrey Huang (ahahaudrey.bsky.social) with Adam Block, Qinghua Liu, Nan Jiang, and Akshay Krishnamurthy (akshaykr.bsky.social).
1/11
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Incredible lineup of speakers at #CUA #WORKSHOP @ #ICML2025!
Speakers part 3/3:
Qingyun Wu (Penn State University) @qingyunwu.bsky.social
Zhiyong Wu (Shanghai AI Lab)
Victor Zhong (University of Waterloo, Vector Institute) @vzhong.bsky.social
Speakers part 3/3:
Qingyun Wu (Penn State University) @qingyunwu.bsky.social
Zhiyong Wu (Shanghai AI Lab)
Victor Zhong (University of Waterloo, Vector Institute) @vzhong.bsky.social
March 31, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Incredible lineup of speakers at #CUA #WORKSHOP @ #ICML2025!
Speakers part 3/3:
Qingyun Wu (Penn State University) @qingyunwu.bsky.social
Zhiyong Wu (Shanghai AI Lab)
Victor Zhong (University of Waterloo, Vector Institute) @vzhong.bsky.social
Speakers part 3/3:
Qingyun Wu (Penn State University) @qingyunwu.bsky.social
Zhiyong Wu (Shanghai AI Lab)
Victor Zhong (University of Waterloo, Vector Institute) @vzhong.bsky.social
Teaching for the first time: I finished the last official lecture of the class and got a surprise round of applause! Feels so great!
March 27, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Teaching for the first time: I finished the last official lecture of the class and got a surprise round of applause! Feels so great!
Reposted by Victor Zhong
A bit of a mess around the conflict of COLM with the ARR (and to lesser degree ICML) reviews release. We feel this is creating a lot of pressure and uncertainty. So, we are pushing our deadlines:
Abstracts due March 22 AoE (+48hr)
Full papers due March 28 AoE (+24hr)
Plz RT 🙏
Abstracts due March 22 AoE (+48hr)
Full papers due March 28 AoE (+24hr)
Plz RT 🙏
March 20, 2025 at 6:20 PM
A bit of a mess around the conflict of COLM with the ARR (and to lesser degree ICML) reviews release. We feel this is creating a lot of pressure and uncertainty. So, we are pushing our deadlines:
Abstracts due March 22 AoE (+48hr)
Full papers due March 28 AoE (+24hr)
Plz RT 🙏
Abstracts due March 22 AoE (+48hr)
Full papers due March 28 AoE (+24hr)
Plz RT 🙏
Reposted by Victor Zhong
We've kept pushing our Open-R1 project, an open initiative to replicate and extend the techniques behind DeepSeek-R1
And even we were mind-blown by the results we got with this latest model we're releasing: ⚡️OlympicCoder
[1/3]
And even we were mind-blown by the results we got with this latest model we're releasing: ⚡️OlympicCoder
[1/3]
March 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
We've kept pushing our Open-R1 project, an open initiative to replicate and extend the techniques behind DeepSeek-R1
And even we were mind-blown by the results we got with this latest model we're releasing: ⚡️OlympicCoder
[1/3]
And even we were mind-blown by the results we got with this latest model we're releasing: ⚡️OlympicCoder
[1/3]
Reposted by Victor Zhong
#InternationalWomensDay is a time to promote women’s equity by celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to forge gender parity. Meet some of the exceptional women in Science who are helping to #AccelerateAction: bit.ly/3XCAft9 @uwaterloo.ca
March 8, 2025 at 2:33 PM
#InternationalWomensDay is a time to promote women’s equity by celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to forge gender parity. Meet some of the exceptional women in Science who are helping to #AccelerateAction: bit.ly/3XCAft9 @uwaterloo.ca
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Report: CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA!
February 21, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Report: CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANADA!
The democratization and commoditization of foundation models is happening and will continue to happen - regulation will not slow nor stop it. Secrecy, propriety moats, and trade embargoes may succeed briefly in AI, but they will fail. And when they do, they will likely fail hard.
January 28, 2025 at 2:04 PM
The democratization and commoditization of foundation models is happening and will continue to happen - regulation will not slow nor stop it. Secrecy, propriety moats, and trade embargoes may succeed briefly in AI, but they will fail. And when they do, they will likely fail hard.
Reposted by Victor Zhong
📣 Big news for sustainability in tech! 🔋
CS Professor Martin Karsten and his collaborators Peter Cai and Joe Damato have developed a small modification to the Linux kernel — now part of Linux 6.13 — that could cut energy use in data centres by up to 30%.
cs.uwaterloo.ca/news/cherito...
CS Professor Martin Karsten and his collaborators Peter Cai and Joe Damato have developed a small modification to the Linux kernel — now part of Linux 6.13 — that could cut energy use in data centres by up to 30%.
cs.uwaterloo.ca/news/cherito...
January 20, 2025 at 4:17 PM
📣 Big news for sustainability in tech! 🔋
CS Professor Martin Karsten and his collaborators Peter Cai and Joe Damato have developed a small modification to the Linux kernel — now part of Linux 6.13 — that could cut energy use in data centres by up to 30%.
cs.uwaterloo.ca/news/cherito...
CS Professor Martin Karsten and his collaborators Peter Cai and Joe Damato have developed a small modification to the Linux kernel — now part of Linux 6.13 — that could cut energy use in data centres by up to 30%.
cs.uwaterloo.ca/news/cherito...
Reposted by Victor Zhong
#AI hallucinations are a problem; #UWAllen Ph.D. student @akariasai.bsky.social may have the answer. She was named a @techreviewjp.bsky.social Innovator Under 35 for her work to make #LLMs more transparent and useful—without making stuff up. #IU35 #AIforGood
news.cs.washington.edu/2025/01/07/w...
news.cs.washington.edu/2025/01/07/w...
‘Working to solve global problems’: Allen School Ph.D. student Akari Asai named one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Japan - Allen School News
Despite their growing potential and increasing popularity, large language models (LLMs) often produce responses that are factually inaccurate or nonsensical, also known as hallucinations. Allen School...
news.cs.washington.edu
January 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
#AI hallucinations are a problem; #UWAllen Ph.D. student @akariasai.bsky.social may have the answer. She was named a @techreviewjp.bsky.social Innovator Under 35 for her work to make #LLMs more transparent and useful—without making stuff up. #IU35 #AIforGood
news.cs.washington.edu/2025/01/07/w...
news.cs.washington.edu/2025/01/07/w...
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Sadly, we have lost a brilliant researcher and colleague, Felix Hill. Please see this note, where I have tried to compile some of his writings: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
For Felix
Devastatingly, we have lost a bright light in our field. Felix Hill was not only a deeply insightful thinker -- he was also a generous, thoughtful mentor to many researchers. He majorly changed my lif...
docs.google.com
January 4, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Sadly, we have lost a brilliant researcher and colleague, Felix Hill. Please see this note, where I have tried to compile some of his writings: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Shoutout to the Pearson Air Canada lost+found folks.. Got in exhausted after a ~24 hour journey and realized at 11pm that I forgot my laptop in seat stowage. Filed a claim 11pm and received found notice 5am. Bussed to airport and recovered at 8am. Would have lost my lecture notes and talk slides!
January 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Shoutout to the Pearson Air Canada lost+found folks.. Got in exhausted after a ~24 hour journey and realized at 11pm that I forgot my laptop in seat stowage. Filed a claim 11pm and received found notice 5am. Bussed to airport and recovered at 8am. Would have lost my lecture notes and talk slides!
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Terrible tragedy. Douwe posted this on X:
x.com/douwekiela/s...
With a link and details about the service London:
> his family have asked to share this webpage for the celebration of his life: pp.events/felix
x.com/douwekiela/s...
With a link and details about the service London:
> his family have asked to share this webpage for the celebration of his life: pp.events/felix
January 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Terrible tragedy. Douwe posted this on X:
x.com/douwekiela/s...
With a link and details about the service London:
> his family have asked to share this webpage for the celebration of his life: pp.events/felix
x.com/douwekiela/s...
With a link and details about the service London:
> his family have asked to share this webpage for the celebration of his life: pp.events/felix
Reposted by Victor Zhong
Faculty position doing AI for materials discovery! Come join us at the @uoftmse @uoft.bsky.social jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... Plenty of exciting opportunities in the GTA and with @acceleration_c and @vectorinst.bsky.social in particular! Please share and retweet!
Assistant Professor - AI Materials Discovery
Assistant Professor - AI Materials Discovery
jobs.utoronto.ca
December 20, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Faculty position doing AI for materials discovery! Come join us at the @uoftmse @uoft.bsky.social jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... Plenty of exciting opportunities in the GTA and with @acceleration_c and @vectorinst.bsky.social in particular! Please share and retweet!