mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

DARE: Diffusion Large Language Models Alignment and Reinforcement Executor

arXiv 2604.04215 ↗First posted 5 Apr 2026cs.CLcited by 5

On the map: LLM alignment / RLHF / preference optimisation → Diffusion and multimodal model alignment

Abstract (arXiv)

Diffusion large language models (dLLMs) are emerging as a compelling alternative to dominant autoregressive models, replacing strictly sequential token generation with iterative denoising and parallel generation dynamics. However, their open-source ecosystem remains fragmented across model families and, in particular, across post-training pipelines, where reinforcement learning objectives, rollout implementations and evaluation scripts are often released as paper-specific codebases. This fragmentation slows research iteration, raises the engineering burden of reproduction, and makes fair comparison across algorithms difficult. We present DARE (dLLMs Alignment and Reinforcement Executor), an open framework for post-training and evaluating dLLMs. Built on top of verl~citesheng2024hybridflow and OpenCompass~cite2023opencompass, DARE unifies supervised fine-tuning, parameter-efficient fine-tuning, preference optimization, and dLLM-specific reinforcement learning under a shared execution stack for both masked and block diffusion language models. Across representative model families including LLaDA, Dream, SDAR, and LLaDA2.x, DARE provides broad algorithmic coverage, reproducible benchmark evaluation, and practical acceleration. Extensive empirical results position that DARE serves as a reusable research substrate for developing, comparing, and deploying post-training methods for current and emerging dLLMs.

Key facts. Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Diffusion and multimodal model alignment, one of 10 directions in LLM alignment / RLHF / preference optimisation. Builds on 50 of its 57 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 5 Apr 2026.

Builds on

50 of 57 references.

References · 50

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38 more
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Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 5.

5 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026DARE: Diffusion Language Model Activation Reuse for Efficient Inference
  2. 2025d-TreeRPO: Towards More Reliable Policy Optimization for Diffusion Language Models
  3. 2025Learning Unmasking Policies for Diffusion Language Models
  4. 2026dTRPO: Trajectory Reduction in Policy Optimization of Diffusion Large Language Models
  5. 2025Enhancing Reasoning for Diffusion LLMs via Distribution Matching Policy Optimization
  6. 2026Back on Track: Aligning Rewards and States for Reasoning in Diffusion Large Language Models
  7. 2026Accelerating Masked Diffusion Large Language Models: A Survey of Efficient Inference Techniques
  8. 2026ES-dLLM: Efficient Inference for Diffusion Large Language Models by Early-Skipping