arXiv AI

zkLLMPoT: Efficient Zero Knowledge Proof of Training for Large Language Models

arXiv AI
6d ago

Proposals and challenges for zero-knowledge verification of frontier AI training

The paper proposes a zero‑knowledge verification framework for frontier AI training, combining pre‑committed specifications, network observations, and live Merkle commitments to create a succinct proof layer via a zero‑knowledge virtual machine (zkVM). It outlines how proofs can verify BF16/FP32 semantics step‑by‑step, enforce policy‑relevant claims, and provide a governance‑auditable training record, while also discussing sampling guarantees, weight smuggling risks, and the relative robustness of global training budgets versus per‑run FLOP caps. The authors compare zkVMs, custom circuits, and interactive audits, and identify remaining research and engineering challenges for external contributors.

By Pierre Peign\'e, Ky Nguyen, Paul Wang
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 16

OPEN-1B: A Fully Auditable Training Run

The paper introduces Open-1B, a language model trained under a new fully auditable regime that ensures every training operation is reproducible on heterogeneous commodity hardware with bitwise certainty. By enforcing a fixed order on sources of nondeterminism—GPU reductions, data batch ordering, and inter/intra-node communication—the authors enable auditors to replay and verify individual training steps on a single machine. The release includes the full pretraining dataset, all intermediate checkpoints, the training codebase, and an audit harness for step-by-step verification.

By John Donaghy, Brian Wilcox, O\u{g}uzhan Ersoy, Shikhar Rastogi, Adam St Arnaud, Alexey Titov, Jordan Greenberg, Ben Fielding, Harry Grieve
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 27

Certified in Theory, Broken in Practice: Assumption Gaps in Cryptographic Model Certification

arXiv:2607. 21839v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Privacy-preserving machine learning auditing protocols allow auditors to assess models for properties such as accuracy or fairness, without revealing their internals or training data.

By Carter Luck, Olive Franzese-McLaughlin, Elisaweta Masserova, Akira Takahashi, Antigoni Polychroniadou, Nicolas Papernot
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 31

Not to Break, but to Attest: Adversarial Probes for Privacy-Preserving LLM Verification

The paper introduces a privacy‑preserving zk‑SNARK audit framework that uses adversarial‑style probes to detect logit drift between an approved large language model and a modified deployment. It offers three probe families—token‑based (black‑box), embedding‑based (gray‑box), and stress probes (partial white‑box)—allowing users to balance sensitivity, access, and cost. Experiments across LLM architectures and GPU platforms show token‑based probes achieve the highest mean sensitivity while remaining practical in a black‑box setting, with Groth16 proving times scaling modestly from 1.02 to 1.78 seconds and constant proof size.

By Cameron Wilding, Mina Shaker, Fatemeh Ganji
arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 1

Verification-Aware Training for Speculative Decoding

Verification-Aware Training (VAT) is a plug‑in framework that improves speculative decoding for large language models by simulating verification during training and using the resulting accept/reject patterns as supervision. VAT adds a lightweight binary verification head to predict whether each draft token will survive sequential verification, and replaces the fixed per‑position weighting with a verification‑adaptive schedule that keeps full weight up to the first rejection point. When applied to EAGLE‑3 and DFlash on Qwen3‑4B, Qwen3‑8B, and LLaMA‑3.1‑8B, VAT increases average acceptance length by up to 11.4% and wall‑clock speedup by up to 8.7%, yielding consistent gains across math, code, and chat benchmarks.

By Geonmo Gu, Byeongho Heo, HeeJae Jun, Yoohoon Kang, Sangmin Lee, Sangdoo Yun, Dongyoon Han
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 30

OVIG: Optimistic Verification of AI Training Integrity via Gradient Signals

OVIG is an optimistic verification framework that audits AI training by replaying the process and comparing gradient differences against an empirically calibrated boundary. It treats any gradient difference exceeding this boundary as a malicious deviation. By partitioning training into stride‑s intervals and storing evidence only at interval endpoints, OVIG dramatically reduces off‑chain storage and transmission costs while maintaining zero attack success rate across language, vision, and diffusion workloads.

By Hongxu Su, Jianzhu Yao, Huan Zhang, Xuechao Wang, Pramod Viswanath
arXiv AI
Jun 6

Zero knowledge verification for frontier AI training is possible

arXiv:2606. 05433v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Frontier AI governance frameworks increasingly use cumulative training compute as the primary criterion for designating high-impact models, but enforcement rests on self-reporting because no technical verification primitive for training exists.

By Pierre Peign\'e, Ky Nguyen, Paul Wang
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 19

Certified but Private: Scalable Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Neural Network Guarantees

PANDA is a scalable system that uses zero‑knowledge proofs to certify the robustness and fairness of neural networks without revealing their private parameters. Built on the CROWN robustness framework, PANDA introduces a novel algorithm for proving linear relaxation bounds on non‑linear activation layers, producing lightweight proofs. The system can generate proofs for networks with over 2.9 million parameters in just five minutes and verify them in ten seconds, scaling polynomially with network size and enabling verification of models four orders of magnitude larger than prior ZKP‑based approaches.

By Youwei Zhong, Ben Merbaum, Timos Antonopoulos, Ning Luo, Charalampos Papamanthou, Katerina Sotiraki, Ruzica Piskac
arXiv AI
Jun 2

Catch-Only-One: Non-Transferable Examples for Model-Specific Authorization

arXiv:2510. 10982v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Recent AI regulations increasingly emphasize the need for mechanisms that preserve the utility of data for AI innovation while preventing misuse, particularly by enforcing purpose limitation in downstream AI applications.

By Zihan Wang, Zhiyong Ma, Zhongkui Ma, Shuofeng Liu, Akide Liu, Derui Wang, Minhui Xue, Guangdong Bai