AI / ML

Mixture of Experts (MoE)

A neural network architecture that routes each input to a subset of specialized 'expert' sub-networks rather than activating all parameters, dramatically improving efficiency. Only a fraction of total parameters are active per token (e.g., DeepSeek-V3 has 671B total but ~37B active). MoE enables training much larger models at manageable compute costs. Used in production models like Mixtral, Jamba, and DeepSeek-V3.

IDmixture-of-expertsAliasMoEAliasSparse MoE

Plain meaning

Start with the shortest useful explanation before going deeper.

A neural network architecture that routes each input to a subset of specialized 'expert' sub-networks rather than activating all parameters, dramatically improving efficiency. Only a fraction of total parameters are active per token (e.g., DeepSeek-V3 has 671B total but ~37B active). MoE enables training much larger models at manageable compute costs. Used in production models like Mixtral, Jamba, and DeepSeek-V3.

Mental model

Use the quick analogy first so the term is easier to reason about when you meet it in code, docs, or prompts.

Think of it as a piece of the context or inference stack behind agentic and LLM-powered Solana products.

Technical context

Place the term inside its Solana layer so the definition is easier to reason about.

LLMs, RAG, embeddings, inference, and agent-facing primitives.

Why builders care

Turn the term from vocabulary into something operational for product and engineering work.

This term unlocks adjacent concepts quickly, so it works best when you treat it as a junction instead of an isolated definition.

AI handoff

AI handoff

Use this compact block when you want to give an agent or assistant grounded context without dumping the entire page.

Mixture of Experts (MoE) (mixture-of-experts)
Category: AI / ML
Definition: A neural network architecture that routes each input to a subset of specialized 'expert' sub-networks rather than activating all parameters, dramatically improving efficiency. Only a fraction of total parameters are active per token (e.g., DeepSeek-V3 has 671B total but ~37B active). MoE enables training much larger models at manageable compute costs. Used in production models like Mixtral, Jamba, and DeepSeek-V3.
Aliases: MoE, Sparse MoE
Related: Transformer, State Space Model (Mamba), LLM (Large Language Model)
Glossary Copilot

Ask grounded Solana questions without leaving the glossary.

Use glossary context, relationships, mental models, and builder paths to get structured answers instead of generic chat output.

Explain this code

Optional: paste Anchor, Solana, or Rust code so the Copilot can map primitives back to glossary terms.

Ask a glossary-grounded question

Ask a glossary-grounded question

The Copilot will answer using the current term, related concepts, mental models, and the surrounding glossary graph.

Concept graph

See the term as part of a network, not a dead-end definition.

These branches show which concepts this term touches directly and what sits one layer beyond them.

Branch

Transformer

The neural network architecture underlying modern LLMs, introduced in 'Attention Is All You Need' (2017). Transformers use self-attention mechanisms to process input sequences in parallel (unlike recurrent networks). Key components: multi-head attention, positional encoding, feedforward layers, and layer normalization. Variants include encoder-only (BERT), decoder-only (GPT), and encoder-decoder (T5).

Branch

State Space Model (Mamba)

An alternative to the Transformer architecture that processes sequences with linear O(n) complexity instead of quadratic O(n^2) attention, enabling efficient handling of very long sequences. Mamba introduced selective state spaces where the model dynamically filters information based on content. Hybrid architectures like Jamba combine SSM efficiency with attention's retrieval strength.

Branch

LLM (Large Language Model)

A neural network trained on vast text corpora to understand and generate human language. LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Llama, Gemini) use transformer architectures with billions of parameters. They power chatbots, code generation, summarization, and reasoning tasks. In blockchain development, LLMs assist with smart contract writing, audit review, documentation, and code explanation.

Next concepts to explore

Keep the learning chain moving instead of stopping at one definition.

These are the next concepts worth opening if you want this term to make more sense inside a real Solana workflow.

AI / ML

Transformer

The neural network architecture underlying modern LLMs, introduced in 'Attention Is All You Need' (2017). Transformers use self-attention mechanisms to process input sequences in parallel (unlike recurrent networks). Key components: multi-head attention, positional encoding, feedforward layers, and layer normalization. Variants include encoder-only (BERT), decoder-only (GPT), and encoder-decoder (T5).

AI / ML

State Space Model (Mamba)

An alternative to the Transformer architecture that processes sequences with linear O(n) complexity instead of quadratic O(n^2) attention, enabling efficient handling of very long sequences. Mamba introduced selective state spaces where the model dynamically filters information based on content. Hybrid architectures like Jamba combine SSM efficiency with attention's retrieval strength.

AI / ML

LLM (Large Language Model)

A neural network trained on vast text corpora to understand and generate human language. LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Llama, Gemini) use transformer architectures with billions of parameters. They power chatbots, code generation, summarization, and reasoning tasks. In blockchain development, LLMs assist with smart contract writing, audit review, documentation, and code explanation.

AI / ML

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

An open standard introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 for connecting AI applications to external data sources, tools, and workflows via a unified protocol. Often described as 'USB-C for AI,' MCP eliminates the need for custom integrations per data source. Adopted by OpenAI in March 2025 and donated to the Linux Foundation's Agentic AI Foundation. MCP handles standardized tool/data connections while agent frameworks handle orchestration.

Related terms

Follow the concepts that give this term its actual context.

Glossary entries become useful when they are connected. These links are the shortest path to adjacent ideas.

AI / MLtransformer

Transformer

The neural network architecture underlying modern LLMs, introduced in 'Attention Is All You Need' (2017). Transformers use self-attention mechanisms to process input sequences in parallel (unlike recurrent networks). Key components: multi-head attention, positional encoding, feedforward layers, and layer normalization. Variants include encoder-only (BERT), decoder-only (GPT), and encoder-decoder (T5).

AI / MLstate-space-model

State Space Model (Mamba)

An alternative to the Transformer architecture that processes sequences with linear O(n) complexity instead of quadratic O(n^2) attention, enabling efficient handling of very long sequences. Mamba introduced selective state spaces where the model dynamically filters information based on content. Hybrid architectures like Jamba combine SSM efficiency with attention's retrieval strength.

AI / MLllm

LLM (Large Language Model)

A neural network trained on vast text corpora to understand and generate human language. LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Llama, Gemini) use transformer architectures with billions of parameters. They power chatbots, code generation, summarization, and reasoning tasks. In blockchain development, LLMs assist with smart contract writing, audit review, documentation, and code explanation.

More in category

Stay in the same layer and keep building context.

These entries live beside the current term and help the page feel like part of a larger knowledge graph instead of a dead end.

AI / ML

LLM (Large Language Model)

A neural network trained on vast text corpora to understand and generate human language. LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Llama, Gemini) use transformer architectures with billions of parameters. They power chatbots, code generation, summarization, and reasoning tasks. In blockchain development, LLMs assist with smart contract writing, audit review, documentation, and code explanation.

AI / ML

Transformer

The neural network architecture underlying modern LLMs, introduced in 'Attention Is All You Need' (2017). Transformers use self-attention mechanisms to process input sequences in parallel (unlike recurrent networks). Key components: multi-head attention, positional encoding, feedforward layers, and layer normalization. Variants include encoder-only (BERT), decoder-only (GPT), and encoder-decoder (T5).

AI / ML

Attention Mechanism

A neural network component that allows models to weigh the relevance of different parts of the input when producing output. Self-attention computes query-key-value dot products across all positions, enabling each token to 'attend' to every other token. Multi-head attention runs multiple attention functions in parallel. Attention is O(n²) in sequence length, driving context window research.

AI / ML

Foundation Model

A large AI model trained on broad data that can be adapted for many downstream tasks. Foundation models (GPT-4, Claude, Llama 3, Gemini) are pre-trained on internet-scale text/code and can be fine-tuned, prompted, or used via APIs for specific applications. The term emphasizes that one base model serves as the foundation for diverse use cases rather than training task-specific models.