Automating the development of machine learning algorithms has the potential to unlock new breakthroughs. However, our ability to improve and evaluate algorithm discovery systems has thus far been limited by existing task suites. They suffer from many issues, such as: poor evaluation methodologies; data contamination; and containing saturated or very similar problems. Here, we introduce DiscoGen, a procedural generator of algorithm discovery tasks for machine learning, such as developing optimisers for reinforcement learning or loss functions for image classification. Motivated by the success of procedural generation in reinforcement learning, DiscoGen spans billions of tasks of varying difficulty and complexity from a range of machine learning fields. These tasks are specified by a small number of configuration parameters and can be used to optimise algorithm discovery agents (ADAs). We present DiscoBench, a fixed, small subset of DiscoGen tasks for principled evaluation of ADAs. Finally, we propose a number of ambitious, impactful research directions enabled by DiscoGen, and demonstrate its use for ADA optimisation through scaling experiments for automated prompt tuning. DiscoGen is released open-source at https://github.com/AlexGoldie/discogen.
Large language models have advanced automated algorithm discovery by synthesizing executable code, but existing frameworks trap them in rigid search pipelines with pre-defined control flows. This limitation restricts adaptive reasoning, blocks cross-paradigm transfer, and discards valuable execution feedback. We propose AlgoEvo, a unified agentic framework that transforms automated algorithm discovery into an interactive, knowledge-accumulating process. An autonomous agent dynamically inspects, diagnoses, and edits code based on runtime feedback. A design skill hub decouples paradigm-specific knowledge from the core discovery engine, allowing a single workflow to seamlessly handle single-objective, multi-objective, and multi-component design. Meanwhile, a hierarchical experience mechanism organizes search trajectories into a task-level tree to guide exploration and consolidates cross-task patterns into reusable skills. Across six representative benchmark tasks, AlgoEvo matches or surpasses specialized methods with substantially fewer evaluations and reduced token consumption, demonstrating strong intra-task accumulation, cross-task transfer, and the ability to reproduce or exceed existing state-of-the-art performance through flexible skill activation.
In order to automate AI research we introduce a full, end-to-end framework, OMEGA: Optimizing Machine learning by Evaluating Generated Algorithms, that starts at idea generation and ends with executable code. Our system combines structured meta-prompt engineering with executable code generation to create new ML classifiers. The OMEGA framework has been utilized to generate several novel algorithms that outperform scikit-learn baselines across a robust selection of 20 benchmark datasets (infinity-bench). You can access models discussed in this paper and more in the python package: pip install omega-models.
High pass rates on established programming benchmarks such as HumanEval and LiveCodeBench do not always show whether a model can reason about algorithms. Many fixed benchmarks eventually become part of the public training ecosystem through released problem statements, editorials, and generated solutions, allowing later models to improve partly by exposure rather than by stronger algorithmic ability. We introduce ALGOBENCH, a framework that automatically builds novel algorithmic problems from known competitive-programming problems through structured constraint-shifting transformations. Each accepted ALGOBENCH variant is traceable to a source problem, but must make the original reference algorithm fail. Beyond pass@k, we introduce complexity-aware metrics -- including OPTT, OPTS, TRAPRATE, GAPT, and CONSENS -- to test whether a solution is not only functionally correct but also asymptotically suitable for the generated problem. Experiments across multiple LLMs and prompting strategies show that performance drops sharply on ALGOBENCH variants, retrieval can increase reuse of the old algorithm, and many correct-looking solutions fail to meet the required complexity. Error analysis shows that failures are mainly algorithmic rather than implementation-level, suggesting that ALGOBENCH evaluates adaptation beyond functional correctness.