The Art of Scaling Reinforcement Learning Compute for LLMs
Authors: name: Devvrit Khatri; name: Lovish Madaan; name: Rishabh Tiwari; name: Rachit Bansal; name: Sai Surya Duvvuri; name: Manzil Zaheer; name: Inderjit S. Dhillon; name: David Brandfonbrener; name: Rishabh Agarwal
Published: 2025-10-15 17:43:03

Abstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) has become central to training large language
models (LLMs), yet the field lacks predictive scaling methodologies comparable
to those established for pre-training. Despite rapidly rising compute budgets,
there is no principled understanding of how to evaluate algorithmic
improvements for scaling RL compute. We present the first large-scale
systematic study, amounting to more than 400,000 GPU-hours, that defines a
principled framework for analyzing and predicting RL scaling in LLMs. We fit
sigmoidal compute-performance curves for RL training and ablate a wide range of
common design choices to analyze their effects on asymptotic performance and
compute efficiency. We observe: (1) Not all recipes yield similar asymptotic
performance, (2) Details such as loss aggregation, normalization, curriculum,
and off-policy algorithm primarily modulate compute efficiency without
materially shifting the asymptote, and (3) Stable, scalable recipes follow
predictable scaling trajectories, enabling extrapolation from smaller-scale
runs. Combining these insights, we propose a best-practice recipe, ScaleRL, and
demonstrate its effectiveness by successfully scaling and predicting validation
performance on a single RL run scaled up to 100,000 GPU-hours. Our work
provides both a scientific framework for analyzing scaling in RL and a
practical recipe that brings RL training closer to the predictability long
achieved in pre-training.