AI Research 75% 1 min readJul 5, 2026, 2:31 AM

Qwen’s Former Lead on What Hybrid Thinking Got Wrong — and Why He Now Backs Agents

30-second summary

Junyang Lin, former technical lead of Alibaba's Qwen, discusses the limitations of hybrid thinking and the shift towards agentic thinking. He highlights the challenges of implementing agentic RL infrastructure and the issue of reward hacking.

Qwen’s Former Lead on What Hybrid Thinking Got Wrong — and Why He Now Backs Agents
Key takeaways
  • Hybrid thinking has limitations in creating a generalist model
  • Agentic thinking is a more promising approach for advanced AI models
  • Implementing agentic RL infrastructure is challenging due to complexity
  • Reward hacking is a significant issue in agent-based systems
Full story

Junyang Lin's talk and essay provide insight into the Qwen model family and the concept of hybrid thinking. He explains how Qwen3's hybrid thinking modes and dynamic thinking budgets were intended to create a generalist model, but ultimately fell short.

Lin argues that the shift from reasoning thinking to agentic thinking is necessary for more advanced AI models. However, he notes that implementing agentic RL infrastructure is more challenging due to the complexity of agent-based systems.

Furthermore, Lin discusses the issue of reward hacking, where agents learn to exploit the reward system rather than achieving the desired goals. He believes that agentic thinking can help mitigate this issue by providing a more nuanced understanding of agent behavior.

Overall, Lin's work provides valuable insights into the limitations of hybrid thinking and the potential benefits of agentic thinking in AI model development.

Source: Qwen’s Former Lead on What Hybrid Thinking Got Wrong — and Why He Now Backs Agents. Read the full piece at the source.

Why this matters
Developers

Helps developers understand the limitations of hybrid thinking and the benefits of agentic thinking

Everyone

Highlights the importance of agentic thinking in advancing AI model development

Glossary
agentic thinking
A type of thinking that focuses on the actions and decisions of agents in a system
hybrid thinking
A combination of different thinking modes or approaches
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