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answer: direct
beat: system-design
source: 1 article · updated: October 8, 2026
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What happens when a draft token is rejected?

In exact speculative sampling, a replacement is drawn from a corrected residual distribution proportional to max(0, p minus q), not simply from the original target distribution.

Answered in

Speculative Decoding: Faster Tokens Without Changing the Target Distribution

A draft model proposes tokens and a target verifies them. Exact speculative sampling keeps the target distribution; speedups depend on the workload.

Crashtech Editorial October 7, 2026 System Design & Architecture

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