arxivcs.CLcs.LG2026-07-06
How Much is Left? LLMs Linearly Encode Their Remaining Output Length
Mohamed Amine Merzouk, Dmitri Carpov, Mirko Bronzi, Damiano Fornasiere, Adam Oberman
Large language models generate one token at a time, yet their responses show remarkably consistent length structure: step-by-step solutions converge in predictable token counts, retrievals stop after a few sentences, retractions extend responses by measurable amounts. We ask whet…