DJ LightOn Unlocks Agentic RAG with new SOTA Model Reason-ModernColBERT
LIGHTON
LightOn Unlocks Agentic RAG with new SOTA Model Reason-ModernColBERT
22-May-2025 / 18:15 CET/CEST
Dissemination of a French Regulatory News, transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Press Release
Paris, May 22, 2025
LightOn Unlocks Agentic RAG with new SOTA Model Reason-ModernColBERT
After the recent release of GTE-ModernColBERT exhibiting state-of-the-art results on long-context retrieval, LightOn
announces a major leap forward in AI-driven knowledge discovery: Reason-ModernColBERT, an open-source multi-vector
model purpose-built for Deep Research applications.
Redefining Retrieval: From Matching to Reasoning
Source: BRIGHT: a realistic and challenging benchmark for reasoning-intensive retrieval
With the rise of Deep Research, organizations are demanding more than simple lexical or semantic matching. Today’s
cutting-edge enterprise insights require reasoning, the ability to connect, synthesize, and uncover knowledge beyond
what’s explicitly stated.
Recent advancements in Large Language Models have sparked a boom in reasoning, reshaping what’s possible in AI. Yet,
until now, information retrieval systems have lagged behind, lacking the reasoning capabilities needed to fully support
this new paradigm. That gap has finally been bridged.
Reason-ModernColBERT rises to this challenge thanks to LightOn’s long-standing commitment to late-interaction
architectures. Its results have been made possible thanks to an entire ecosystem purposefully built over time, from
pioneering the PyLate library, to developing ModernBERT, and setting new standards with GTE-ModernColBERT. This
sustained investment enables us today to unlock game-changing performance in reasoning-driven retrieval with remarkable
simplicity. The result: a new model for complex, reasoning-intensive search, powered by an infrastructure designed from
the ground up for exactly this purpose.
Breaking New Ground in Reasoning-Intensive Retrieval
— Small Model, Big Results: Despite being just 150M parameters (over 45 times smaller than certain
competitors), Reason-ModernColBERT outperforms all models up to 7B parameters on BRIGHT, the gold-standard
benchmark for reasoning-intensive retrieval. It even outperforms ReasonIR-8B by over 2.5 NDCG@10 on Stack Exchange
queries.
— Lightning-Fast and Streamlined Training: Built using LightOn’s powerful PyLate library,
Reason-ModernColBERT has been trained in less than two hours with fewer than 100 lines of code.
— Late-Interaction Advantage: Direct comparisons with dense single-vector models, trained on identical
data, highlight the consistent, striking lead enabled by late-interaction architecture.
Unlocking the Next Frontier of Research
Reason-ModernColBERT is built to drive advanced knowledge exploration, addressing cases in which questions are nuanced
and relevance is often subtle or implicit.
As agentic RAG, advanced document understanding, and domain-specific research become central to enterprise AI,
LightOn’s new model provides:
— Enhanced retrieval for subtle, implicit, or reasoning-based queries
— Drastically reduced inference latency relative to massive LLMs
— Easy reproducibility and transparency via open-source release
Reaffirming LightOn’s Commitment to Open Research
As with our previous models, LightOn is making Reason-ModernColBERT, its training code, and the relevant datasets
publicly available. Anyone can freely access, extend, and build upon it, leveraging PyLate to drive the next generation
of multi-vector retrieval innovation.
Get Started Today
Reason-ModernColBERT is available now for use and experimentation on Hugging Face through PyLate, with comprehensive
documentation and code for easy fine-tuning and deployment. Whether for knowledge management teams, AI developers, or
scientific researchers,
Reason-ModernColBERT opens new horizons in the age of Deep Research.
?? Try Reason-ModernColBERT on Hugging Face
?? PyLate Documentation
About LightOn
Founded in 2016 in Paris and the first European generative AI company listed on Euronext Growth, LightOn is a
pioneering player in the field of sovereign GenAI. Its Paradigm platform enables organizations to deploy large-scale AI
while ensuring the confidentiality of their data. LightOn’s technology ensures essential strategic independence by
offering tailored solutions. This technological mastery is accompanied by the ability to process large volumes of data
for industrial uses, with applications in various sectors such as finance, industry, health, defense, and public
services.
LightOn is listed on Euronext Growth® Paris (ISIN: FR0013230950, ticker: ALTAI-FR). The company qualifies for PEA and
PEA PME investment plans and is recognized as an “Innovative Company” by Bpifrance. To learn more: https://
www.lighton.ai
Contacts
SEITOSEI –ACTIFIN
LIGHTON Investor Relations
invest@lighton.ai Benjamin LEHARI
lighton@seitosei-actifin.com
KALAMARI
SEITOSEI –ACTIFIN
Media Relations Financial Media Relations
Camille Bernisson – +33 7 64 44 14 49 Jennifer JULLIA – +33 6 47 97 54 87
Maroua Derdega – +33 7 63 77 73 20 jennifer.jullia@seitosei-actifin.com
lighton@kalamari.agency
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Regulatory filing PDF file File: Reason-ModernColBERT PR
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Language: English
Company: LIGHTON
2 rue de la Bourse
75002 Paris
France
E-mail: contact@lighton.ai
Internet: www.lighton.ai
ISIN: FR0013230950
Euronext Ticker:
AMF Category: Inside information / Other releases
EQS News ID: 2143974
End of Announcement EQS News Service
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2143974 22-May-2025 CET/CEST
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