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Open-weight model · Text generation

distilgpt2

by DistilBERT community distilbert/distilgpt2

DistilGPT2 (short for Distilled-GPT2) is an English-language model pre-trained with the supervision of the smallest version of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2 (GPT-2). Like GPT-2, DistilGPT2 can be used to generate text.

Parameters88M
Context
Weights3.2 GB
Licenseapache-2.0
AccessOpen weights
Monthly Downloads2.1M

Runs On

What it takes to serve distilgpt2 (88M parameters): the memory its weights need at each precision, and the cheapest way to rent enough data-center GPUs to hold them.

PrecisionWeightsMemory neededCheapest setupPer hourAlso fits
16-bit 0.2 GB 0.2 GB 1x MI300X (192 GB)
Vultr
$1.85 1x H100 $1.99 · 1x MI325X $2.00
8-bit 0.1 GB 0.1 GB 1x MI300X (192 GB)
Vultr
$1.85 1x H100 $1.99 · 1x MI325X $2.00
4-bit 0.0 GB 0.1 GB 1x MI300X (192 GB)
Vultr
$1.85 1x H100 $1.99 · 1x MI325X $2.00

Memory is the weights at that precision plus 20% for the runtime and a short context; a long context needs more. Prices are the lowest on-demand hourly rates in the SAVRN Index, read Sep 18, 2026.

SAVRN's Notes on distilgpt2

Two tenths of a gigabyte. That is distilgpt2's 16-bit working memory, and it makes the hardware question nearly vanish. Our cheapest listed host is a single MI300X with 192 GB at $1.85 an hour on-demand, but an 88M-parameter English text generator does not justify a card of its own; park it on whatever is already running. The 19 files ship in seven formats, coreml and tflite among them, which says it was packaged for places a 192 GB card never goes.

The license is Apache 2.0, so commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed provided the notices travel with it. Before building on it, know that the configuration lists no context length, that it was trained on openwebtext, and that the publisher's own card carries a content warning about bias, which matters once output reaches customers. The one figure the publisher reports is a WikiText-103 perplexity of 21.1.

Model Card

By DistilBERT community, published under apache-2.0, revision 2290a62682d0.

DistilGPT2 (short for Distilled-GPT2) is an English-language model pre-trained with the supervision of the smallest version of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2 (GPT-2). Like GPT-2, DistilGPT2 can be used to generate text. Users of this model card should also consider information about the design, training, and limitations of GPT-2.

Model Details

  • Developed by: Hugging Face
  • Model type: Transformer-based Language Model
  • Language: English
  • License: Apache 2.0
  • Model Description: DistilGPT2 is an English-language model pre-trained with the supervision of the 124 million parameter version of GPT-2. DistilGPT2, which has 82 million parameters, was developed using knowledge distillation and was designed to be a faster, lighter version of GPT-2.
  • Resources for more information: See this repository for more about Distil* (a class of compressed models including Distilled-GPT2), Sanh et al. (2019) for more information about knowledge distillation and the training procedure, and this page for more about GPT-2.

Uses, Limitations and Risks

Limitations and Risks

Read the full model card (1,276 words)

Configuration

Architecture
GPT2LMHeadModel
Vocabulary size
50,257
Model type
gpt2

Identity and Version

Repository
distilbert/distilgpt2
Publisher
DistilBERT community
Task
Text generation
Modality
Text
Library
transformers
Parameters
88M parameters
Languages
en
Revision
2290a62682d06624634c1f46a6ad5be0f47f38aa
First published
2022-03-02
Last updated
2024-02-19

Files and Weights

19 files, 3.2 GB in total. The weights are 9 files totalling 3.2 GB in bin, h5, mlmodel, msgpack, ot, safetensors, tflite.

Weights9 files · 3.2 GB
Configuration4 files · 1.7 KB
Tokenizer4 files · 2.9 MB
Documentation1 file · 11.0 KB
Repository1 file · 491 B
Every file
FileTypeSizeSHA-256
64.tfliteWeights325.3 MB 7df15c10bc1a
coreml/text-generation/float32_model.mlpackage/Data/com.apple.CoreML/model.mlmodelWeights1.2 MB d19fa891e34f
coreml/text-generation/float32_model.mlpackage/Data/com.apple.CoreML/weights/weight.binWeights484.2 MB bb5eff8ff722
coreml_model.mlmodelWeights482.3 MB 6c0ee43d6d4b
flax_model.msgpackWeights327.7 MB b3b7fcf75195
model.safetensorsWeights352.8 MB e1ff18884359
pytorch_model.binWeights352.8 MB ecbb4e22dd2b
rust_model.otWeights507.2 MB 5bf6e122f504
tf_model.h5Weights327.7 MB 2a1186d966d5
config.jsonConfiguration762 B
coreml/text-generation/float32_model.mlpackage/Manifest.jsonConfiguration617 B
generation_config.jsonConfiguration124 B
generation_config_for_text_generation.jsonConfiguration165 B
README.mdDocumentation11.0 KB
.gitattributesRepository491 B
merges.txtTokenizer456.3 KB
tokenizer.jsonTokenizer1.4 MB
tokenizer_config.jsonTokenizer26 B
vocab.jsonTokenizer1.0 MB

License and Download

License
apache-2.0
Access
Open weights, no gate
Download size
3.2 GB
Download from DistilBERT community

Released by DistilBERT community through its official repository on Hugging Face. Read the license.

Built From

  • Described by arXiv:1503.02531
  • Described by arXiv:1910.01108
  • Described by arXiv:1910.09700
  • Described by arXiv:2201.08542
  • Described by arXiv:2203.12574
  • Trained on (disclosed) openwebtext

Evaluations

Each result is shown as reported, with the conditions its reporter stated. None is a SAVRN measurement. A comparison lines two results up only when their configuration, unit and setup are all stated and identical.

BenchmarkConditionsResultReported byRevisionDate
WikiText-103 Task Text GenerationMetric PerplexityComparison conditions not established 21.1 distilbert
Publisher reported
Evaluated revision not stated

Memory Requirements

PrecisionWeights in memory
As published3.2 GB
16-bit0.2 GB
8-bit0.1 GB
4-bit0.0 GB

Weights only, from the published parameter count; the key-value cache and runtime add to this.

Questions About distilgpt2

How much GPU memory does distilgpt2 need?

About 0.2 GB at 16-bit and 0.1 GB at 4-bit: the weights (88M parameters) plus a working margin. A long context needs more.

What is the cheapest GPU to run distilgpt2 on?

At 16-bit, 1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour; at 4-bit, 1x MI300X from $1.85 an hour, at the lowest on-demand prices the SAVRN Index lists.

Can I use distilgpt2 commercially?

Yes. distilgpt2 is released under Apache License 2.0. The Apache License 2.0 is a permissive open-source license. It permits commercial use, modification and redistribution. It requires keeping the license and copyright notices and any NOTICE file, stating significant changes, and it includes an express patent grant from contributors.

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