IBM’s Bamba Model: Merging Transformers and SSMs to Break AI Efficiency Barriers

The rise of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT has made the Transformer architecture a household name. Yet, as conversations grow longer, Transformers face a critical roadblock: escalating latency and computational costs. To tackle this, IBM Research partnered with Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, and other leading institutions to launch Bamba, an open-source hybrid model that combines the expressive power of Transformers with the runtime efficiency of state-space models (SSMs). This breakthrough promises to redefine AI efficiency. Let’s dive into how Bamba works and why it matters. The Transformer Dilemma: Why Long Conversations Slow Down AI 1.1 The Power of …