# AutoKernel: Autonomous GPU Kernel Optimization via Iterative Agent-Driven Search

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.21331 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.21331/

## Key facts

- Cited by 18 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 12 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [FlashAttention: Fast and Memory-Efficient Exact Attention with IO-Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14135/) (2022)
- [FlashAttention-2: Faster Attention with Better Parallelism and Work Partitioning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.08691/) (2023)
- [FlashAttention-3: Fast and Accurate Attention with Asynchrony and Low-precision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08608/) (2024)
- [KernelBench: Can LLMs Write Efficient GPU Kernels?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.10517/) (2025)
- [CUDA-L1: Improving CUDA Optimization via Contrastive Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.14111/) (2025)
- [Astra: A Multi-Agent System for GPU Kernel Performance Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.07506/) (2025)
- [CUDA Agent: Large-Scale Agentic RL for High-Performance CUDA Kernel Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.24286/) (2026)
- [CudaForge: An Agent Framework with Hardware Feedback for CUDA Kernel Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.01884/) (2025)
- [Geak: Introducing Triton Kernel AI Agent & Evaluation Benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.23194/) (2025)
- [GPU Kernel Scientist: An LLM-Driven Framework for Iterative Kernel Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20807/) (2025)
- [KernelFoundry: Hardware-aware evolutionary GPU kernel optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.12440/) (2026)
- [KernelSkill: A Multi-Agent Framework for GPU Kernel Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.10085/) (2026)

## Built on by (most cited first, 18 of 18)

- [Dream-RSI: Recursive Self-Improvement through Evolving Worlds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.14858/) (2026)
- [The Last AI Built by Humans: Toward Genuine Recursive Self-Improvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11873/) (2026)
- [Xe-Forge: Multi-Stage LLM-Powered Kernel Optimization for Intel GPU](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.26118/) (2026)
- [MusaCoder: Native GPU Kernel Generation with Full-Stack Training on Moore Threads GPU](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.04847/) (2026)
- [Harness Engineering for LLM-Driven GPU Kernel Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.17979/) (2026)
- [ResearchArena: Evaluating Sabotage and Monitoring in Automated AI R&D](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.19321/) (2026)
- [TileMaxSim: IO-Aware GPU MaxSim Scoring with Dimension Tiling and Fused Product Quantization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.26439/) (2026)
- [CANN Bench: Benchmarking Agent Generated Kernels against Real NPU and Algorithmic Limits](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.20518/) (2026)
- [Toward Compiler World Models: Learning Latent Dynamics for Efficient Tensor Program Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09312/) (2026)
- [AutoMegaKernel: A Statically-Checked Agent Harness for Self-Retargeting Megakernel Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09682/) (2026)
- [Realizing Native INT8 Compute for Diffusion Transformers on Consumer GPUs: A Fused INT8 GEMM Kernel for Ideogram 4.0](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.14598/) (2026)
- [Cross-Model Cross-Language AI Coding Agent Performance: Accuracy and Speed of Parallel CLRS Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.26083/) (2026)
- [KernelGenBench: Can LLMs and Agents Write Efficient Kernels Across Operator Sources and Hardware Platforms?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.27231/) (2026)
- [KernelArc: A Multi-Agent Framework for GPU Kernel Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.17071/) (2026)
- [iCoder-27B: Recursive AI-Led Development of Frontier Industrial Coding Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.29626/) (2026)
- [KernelOPT: Dispatch-Aware Agentic Search for GPU Kernel Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.30059/) (2026)
- [D2K-Bench: Can LLM Agents Turn Expert Designs into Efficient GPU Kernels?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.03226/) (2026)
- [JANUS: Enhancing Long-Horizon Autonomous Research with Co-Evolving World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.13194/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Writing high-performance GPU kernels is among the most labor-intensive tasks in machine learning systems engineering. We present AutoKernel, an open-source framework that applies an autonomous agent loop to GPU kernel optimization for arbitrary PyTorch models. Given a model, AutoKernel profiles it to identify computational bottlenecks, ranks them by Amdahl's law impact, and iteratively refines Triton or CUDA C++ kernel implementations through hundreds of experiments without human intervention. A five-stage correctness harness covering smoke tests, shape sweeps, numerical stability, determinism verification, and edge-case coverage ensures every candidate kernel is validated before any speedup is recorded. The system comprises over 9,000 lines of Python, 18 starter kernel implementations across two backends, a six-tier optimization playbook, and integration with the KernelBench benchmark suite. AutoKernel covers nine kernel types spanning the dominant operations in modern transformer architectures. On an NVIDIA H100, our Triton kernels outperform both PyTorch eager and torch.compile (max-autotune) on the majority of tested configurations: 5.29x over eager on RMSNorm, 2.82x on softmax, and 2.21x on cross-entropy, while beating torch.compile by 2.83x, 3.44x, and 2.94x respectively. In community deployment, an AutoKernel-optimized kernel achieved first place on the vectorsum_v2 B200 leaderboard. The full system is available at https://github.com/RightNow-AI/autokernel.