Kimi K2

Size
1T
Published
Moonshot AI · Jul 2025
Line
Latent attention and experts
View
Architecture
Source

moonshotai/Kimi‑K2‑Instruct @ fd1984e · parameter count checked against the checkpoint’s tensor headersHow to read

Mixture of experts

61 transformer blocks › 60 MoE blocks › Mixture of experts

Shared expert

Open inside →×

learnedself.shared_experts

A SwiGLU of 2,048 hidden features applied to every position.

Why

Tokens routed to different experts may still need some common knowledge, and several routed experts may then each learn it. This expert runs for every token and is meant to hold that common part, which the authors of the design say reduces redundancy among the routed experts and leaves them more specialised. DeepSeekMoE §3.2

h=a⊙uh=a\odot u
yshared=hW2y^{\mathrm{shared}}=hW_{2}
All 5 steps
g=xffnW1g=x_{\mathrm{ffn}}W_{1}
u=xffnW3u=x_{\mathrm{ffn}}W_{3}
a=g σ(g)a=g\,\sigma(g)
h=a⊙uh=a\odot u
yshared=hW2y^{\mathrm{shared}}=hW_{2}
in
xffnx_{\mathrm{ffn}} [B batch, T positions, 7168 d]
out
ysharedy^{\mathrm{shared}} [B batch, T positions, 7168 d]
parameters
44,040,192 · × 60 MoE blocks = 2,642,411,520
Parameters

44,040,192 parameters per instance, across its learned components

Exact per-instance accounting
ComponentCalculationParameters
Gate projection7,168×2,0487{,}168 \times 2{,}04814,680,064
Up projection7,168×2,0487{,}168 \times 2{,}04814,680,064
Down projection2,048×7,1682{,}048 \times 7{,}16814,680,064
Per-instance total44,040,192

Across 60 independent MoE blocks: 44,040,192×60=2,642,411,52044{,}040{,}192 \times 60 = 2{,}642{,}411{,}520 parameters.

Derived from the pinned configuration and implementation, and equal to the count of the checkpoint’s tensors read from its safetensors headers (FP8 block scales and stored rotary buffers excluded).

Explanation

Its 2,048 hidden features are moe_intermediate_size × n_shared_experts (modeling_deepseek.py 518).

Codemodeling_deepseek.py 374–609
modeling_deepseek.py 486–521
        if hasattr(config, "ep_size") and config.ep_size > 1:
            assert config.ep_size == dist.get_world_size()
            self.ep_size = config.ep_size
            self.experts_per_rank = config.n_routed_experts // config.ep_size
            self.ep_rank = dist.get_rank()
            self.experts = nn.ModuleList(
                [
                    (
                        DeepseekV3MLP(
                            config, intermediate_size=config.moe_intermediate_size
                        )
                        if i >= self.ep_rank * self.experts_per_rank
                        and i < (self.ep_rank + 1) * self.experts_per_rank
                        else None
                    )
                    for i in range(config.n_routed_experts)
                ]
            )
        else:
            self.ep_size = 1
            self.experts_per_rank = config.n_routed_experts
            self.ep_rank = 0
            self.experts = nn.ModuleList(
                [
                    DeepseekV3MLP(
                        config, intermediate_size=config.moe_intermediate_size
                    )
                    for i in range(config.n_routed_experts)
                ]
            )
        self.gate = MoEGate(config)
        if config.n_shared_experts is not None:
            intermediate_size = config.moe_intermediate_size * config.n_shared_experts
            self.shared_experts = DeepseekV3MLP(
                config=config, intermediate_size=intermediate_size
            )
modeling_deepseek.py 523–533
    def forward(self, hidden_states):
        identity = hidden_states
        orig_shape = hidden_states.shape
        topk_idx, topk_weight = self.gate(hidden_states)
        hidden_states = hidden_states.view(-1, hidden_states.shape[-1])
        flat_topk_idx = topk_idx.view(-1)
        if not self.training:
            y = self.moe_infer(hidden_states, topk_idx, topk_weight).view(*orig_shape)
        if self.config.n_shared_experts is not None:
            y = y + self.shared_experts(identity)
        return y
modeling_deepseek.py 536–609
    def moe_infer(self, x, topk_ids, topk_weight):
        cnts = topk_ids.new_zeros((topk_ids.shape[0], len(self.experts)))
        cnts.scatter_(1, topk_ids, 1)
        tokens_per_expert = cnts.sum(dim=0)
        idxs = topk_ids.view(-1).argsort()
        sorted_tokens = x[idxs // topk_ids.shape[1]]
        sorted_tokens_shape = sorted_tokens.shape
        if self.ep_size > 1:
            tokens_per_ep_rank = tokens_per_expert.view(self.ep_size, -1).sum(dim=1)
            tokens_per_expert_group = tokens_per_expert.new_empty(
                tokens_per_expert.shape[0]
            )
            dist.all_to_all_single(tokens_per_expert_group, tokens_per_expert)
            output_splits = (
                tokens_per_expert_group.view(self.ep_size, -1)
                .sum(1)
                .cpu()
                .numpy()
                .tolist()
            )
            gathered_tokens = sorted_tokens.new_empty(
                tokens_per_expert_group.sum(dim=0).cpu().item(), sorted_tokens.shape[1]
            )
            input_split_sizes = tokens_per_ep_rank.cpu().numpy().tolist()
            dist.all_to_all(
                list(gathered_tokens.split(output_splits)),
                list(sorted_tokens.split(input_split_sizes)),
            )
            tokens_per_expert_post_gather = tokens_per_expert_group.view(
                self.ep_size, self.experts_per_rank
            ).sum(dim=0)
            gatherd_idxs = np.zeros(shape=(gathered_tokens.shape[0],), dtype=np.int32)
            s = 0
            for i, k in enumerate(tokens_per_expert_group.cpu().numpy()):
                gatherd_idxs[s : s + k] = i % self.experts_per_rank
                s += k
            gatherd_idxs = gatherd_idxs.argsort()
            sorted_tokens = gathered_tokens[gatherd_idxs]
            tokens_per_expert = tokens_per_expert_post_gather
        tokens_per_expert = tokens_per_expert.cpu().numpy()

        outputs = []
        start_idx = 0
        for i, num_tokens in enumerate(tokens_per_expert):
            end_idx = start_idx + num_tokens
            if num_tokens == 0:
                continue
            expert = self.experts[i + self.ep_rank * self.experts_per_rank]
            tokens_for_this_expert = sorted_tokens[start_idx:end_idx]
            expert_out = expert(tokens_for_this_expert)
            outputs.append(expert_out)
            start_idx = end_idx

        outs = torch.cat(outputs, dim=0) if len(outputs) else sorted_tokens.new_empty(0)
        if self.ep_size > 1:
            new_x = torch.empty_like(outs)
            new_x[gatherd_idxs] = outs
            gathered_tokens = new_x.new_empty(*sorted_tokens_shape)
            dist.all_to_all(
                list(gathered_tokens.split(input_split_sizes)),
                list(new_x.split(output_splits)),
            )
            outs = gathered_tokens

        new_x = torch.empty_like(outs)
        new_x[idxs] = outs
        final_out = (
            new_x.view(*topk_ids.shape, -1)
            .type(topk_weight.dtype)
            .mul_(topk_weight.unsqueeze(dim=-1))
            .sum(dim=1)
            .type(new_x.dtype)
        )
        return final_out
modeling_deepseek.py 374–390
class DeepseekV3MLP(nn.Module):
    def __init__(self, config, hidden_size=None, intermediate_size=None):
        super().__init__()
        self.config = config
        self.hidden_size = config.hidden_size if hidden_size is None else hidden_size
        self.intermediate_size = (
            config.intermediate_size if intermediate_size is None else intermediate_size
        )

        self.gate_proj = nn.Linear(self.hidden_size, self.intermediate_size, bias=False)
        self.up_proj = nn.Linear(self.hidden_size, self.intermediate_size, bias=False)
        self.down_proj = nn.Linear(self.intermediate_size, self.hidden_size, bias=False)
        self.act_fn = ACT2FN[config.hidden_act]

    def forward(self, x):
        down_proj = self.down_proj(self.act_fn(self.gate_proj(x)) * self.up_proj(x))
        return down_proj
Sources3

Direct evidence

The MoE layer holds the routed experts, the router and one shared expert MLP of n_shared_experts × moe_intermediate_size features.

moe-init · moonshotai/Kimi-K2-Instruct / modeling_deepseek.py
Pinned revision fd1984e2b7a3 ↗ · lines 486–521

Read code excerpt
        if hasattr(config, "ep_size") and config.ep_size > 1:
            assert config.ep_size == dist.get_world_size()
            self.ep_size = config.ep_size
            self.experts_per_rank = config.n_routed_experts // config.ep_size
            self.ep_rank = dist.get_rank()
            self.experts = nn.ModuleList(
                [
                    (
                        DeepseekV3MLP(
                            config, intermediate_size=config.moe_intermediate_size
                        )
                        if i >= self.ep_rank * self.experts_per_rank
                        and i < (self.ep_rank + 1) * self.experts_per_rank
                        else None
                    )
                    for i in range(config.n_routed_experts)
                ]
            )
        else:
            self.ep_size = 1
            self.experts_per_rank = config.n_routed_experts
            self.ep_rank = 0
            self.experts = nn.ModuleList(
                [
                    DeepseekV3MLP(
                        config, intermediate_size=config.moe_intermediate_size
                    )
                    for i in range(config.n_routed_experts)
                ]
            )
        self.gate = MoEGate(config)
        if config.n_shared_experts is not None:
            intermediate_size = config.moe_intermediate_size * config.n_shared_experts
            self.shared_experts = DeepseekV3MLP(
                config=config, intermediate_size=intermediate_size
            )

Direct evidence

Each token’s output is the router-weighted sum of its selected experts plus the shared expert applied to every token; tokens are sorted by expert, each expert runs on its tokens, and outputs are scattered back.

moe-forward · moonshotai/Kimi-K2-Instruct / modeling_deepseek.py
Pinned revision fd1984e2b7a3 ↗ · lines 523–609

Read code excerpt
    def forward(self, hidden_states):
        identity = hidden_states
        orig_shape = hidden_states.shape
        topk_idx, topk_weight = self.gate(hidden_states)
        hidden_states = hidden_states.view(-1, hidden_states.shape[-1])
        flat_topk_idx = topk_idx.view(-1)
        if not self.training:
            y = self.moe_infer(hidden_states, topk_idx, topk_weight).view(*orig_shape)
        if self.config.n_shared_experts is not None:
            y = y + self.shared_experts(identity)
        return y

… lines 534–535 omitted …

    def moe_infer(self, x, topk_ids, topk_weight):
        cnts = topk_ids.new_zeros((topk_ids.shape[0], len(self.experts)))
        cnts.scatter_(1, topk_ids, 1)
        tokens_per_expert = cnts.sum(dim=0)
        idxs = topk_ids.view(-1).argsort()
        sorted_tokens = x[idxs // topk_ids.shape[1]]
        sorted_tokens_shape = sorted_tokens.shape
        if self.ep_size > 1:
            tokens_per_ep_rank = tokens_per_expert.view(self.ep_size, -1).sum(dim=1)
            tokens_per_expert_group = tokens_per_expert.new_empty(
                tokens_per_expert.shape[0]
            )
            dist.all_to_all_single(tokens_per_expert_group, tokens_per_expert)
            output_splits = (
                tokens_per_expert_group.view(self.ep_size, -1)
                .sum(1)
                .cpu()
                .numpy()
                .tolist()
            )
            gathered_tokens = sorted_tokens.new_empty(
                tokens_per_expert_group.sum(dim=0).cpu().item(), sorted_tokens.shape[1]
            )
            input_split_sizes = tokens_per_ep_rank.cpu().numpy().tolist()
            dist.all_to_all(
                list(gathered_tokens.split(output_splits)),
                list(sorted_tokens.split(input_split_sizes)),
            )
            tokens_per_expert_post_gather = tokens_per_expert_group.view(
                self.ep_size, self.experts_per_rank
            ).sum(dim=0)
            gatherd_idxs = np.zeros(shape=(gathered_tokens.shape[0],), dtype=np.int32)
            s = 0
            for i, k in enumerate(tokens_per_expert_group.cpu().numpy()):
                gatherd_idxs[s : s + k] = i % self.experts_per_rank
                s += k
            gatherd_idxs = gatherd_idxs.argsort()
            sorted_tokens = gathered_tokens[gatherd_idxs]
            tokens_per_expert = tokens_per_expert_post_gather
        tokens_per_expert = tokens_per_expert.cpu().numpy()

        outputs = []
        start_idx = 0
        for i, num_tokens in enumerate(tokens_per_expert):
            end_idx = start_idx + num_tokens
            if num_tokens == 0:
                continue
            expert = self.experts[i + self.ep_rank * self.experts_per_rank]
            tokens_for_this_expert = sorted_tokens[start_idx:end_idx]
            expert_out = expert(tokens_for_this_expert)
            outputs.append(expert_out)
            start_idx = end_idx

        outs = torch.cat(outputs, dim=0) if len(outputs) else sorted_tokens.new_empty(0)
        if self.ep_size > 1:
            new_x = torch.empty_like(outs)
            new_x[gatherd_idxs] = outs
            gathered_tokens = new_x.new_empty(*sorted_tokens_shape)
            dist.all_to_all(
                list(gathered_tokens.split(input_split_sizes)),
                list(new_x.split(output_splits)),
            )
            outs = gathered_tokens

        new_x = torch.empty_like(outs)
        new_x[idxs] = outs
        final_out = (
            new_x.view(*topk_ids.shape, -1)
            .type(topk_weight.dtype)
            .mul_(topk_weight.unsqueeze(dim=-1))
            .sum(dim=1)
            .type(new_x.dtype)
        )
        return final_out

Direct evidence

The dense feed-forward network is a SwiGLU MLP: down(silu(gate x) ⊙ up x).

mlp · moonshotai/Kimi-K2-Instruct / modeling_deepseek.py
Pinned revision fd1984e2b7a3 ↗ · lines 374–390

Read code excerpt
class DeepseekV3MLP(nn.Module):
    def __init__(self, config, hidden_size=None, intermediate_size=None):
        super().__init__()
        self.config = config
        self.hidden_size = config.hidden_size if hidden_size is None else hidden_size
        self.intermediate_size = (
            config.intermediate_size if intermediate_size is None else intermediate_size
        )

        self.gate_proj = nn.Linear(self.hidden_size, self.intermediate_size, bias=False)
        self.up_proj = nn.Linear(self.hidden_size, self.intermediate_size, bias=False)
        self.down_proj = nn.Linear(self.intermediate_size, self.hidden_size, bias=False)
        self.act_fn = ACT2FN[config.hidden_act]

    def forward(self, x):
        down_proj = self.down_proj(self.act_fn(self.gate_proj(x)) * self.up_proj(x))
        return down_proj