Chollet Argues Reasoning Models Differ from Base LLMs by Inductive Program Prediction

François Chollet argues the key difference between base LLMs and modern LRMs is a shift from transductive answer prediction to inductive prediction of the program or reasoning chain behind an answer.

He says this enables test-time induction and substantial fluid intelligence in LRMs, which he claims base LLMs largely lack. He cites ARC 1 results: base LLMs remain around 10-15%, while LRMs of the same size or smaller saturated the benchmark in 2025.