Even GPT-2 can pass most functional global workspace tests

The author retested the five functional tests proposed in Anthropic's global workspace paper (Gurnee et al., 2026) on GPT-2 small (124M), finding that GPT-2 passed four: verbal report, internal reasoning, flexible generalization, and selectivity, and failed only directed modulation. The paper used a Jacobian lens (J-lens) to find representations in Claude that pass all five tests, and found structures supporting global workspace function. The author found almost none of these structures in GPT-2, with no obvious layer bands and ignition phenomena, and MLP amplification of J-lens directions of only 1.2–1.4×.