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[Bugfix] Fix common_broadcastable_dtype returning a lossy dtype - #51626

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UgaTheDev:fix-broadcastable-dtype
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UgaTheDev:fix-broadcastable-dtype

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common_broadcastable_dtype is documented to return a dtype that every input
can be cast to without losing information. The implementation was

max(dtypes, key=lambda dtype: sum(is_lossless_cast(dt, dtype) for dt in dtypes))

That is an argmax over the input collection, so it can only ever return a dtype
that was passed in. When no input is a valid target for all the others, it still
returns one of them, silently lossy.

{float16, bfloat16} is the case that matters in practice. Neither is a lossless
cast target for the other, so both score 1 and max returns whichever the
iterable yields first:

common_broadcastable_dtype([torch.float16, torch.bfloat16])  # torch.float16
common_broadcastable_dtype([torch.bfloat16, torch.float16])  # torch.bfloat16

The correct answer is float32, which is in neither input. The result also
depends on iteration order of the collection the caller passes in.

Fix is to use torch.promote_types, which is defined over the full dtype
lattice rather than only the inputs:

functools.reduce(torch.promote_types, dtypes)

This returns float32 for both orderings above and matches the previous
behaviour on the existing test cases.

Scope note: this does not make the function match its docstring in every case.
torch.promote_types(torch.int64, torch.float16) is float16, which loses
precision. That is pre-existing and left alone here.

Added the [float16, bfloat16] -> float32 case to
test_common_broadcastable_dtype.

Test:

pytest tests/utils_/test_torch_utils.py --noconftest \
  -k "common_broadcastable_dtype or is_lossless_cast"

29 passed. Full-file collection fails in my environment on an unrelated missing
xgrammar import from the tests conftest.

common_broadcastable_dtype took an argmax over the input dtypes, so it could
only return a dtype that was passed in. When no input is a lossless cast target
for all the others it still returned one of them.

For {float16, bfloat16} neither candidate is a lossless target for the other,
both score 1, and max returns whichever the iterable yields first. The result
is lossy and depends on iteration order. The correct answer is float32, which
is in neither input.

Use functools.reduce(torch.promote_types, dtypes) instead, which is defined
over the full dtype lattice. This matches the previous behaviour on the
existing test cases.

This does not make the function match its docstring in every case:
promote_types(int64, float16) is float16, which is also lossy. That is
pre-existing.

Signed-off-by: Kush Zingade <kush.zingade@gmail.com>

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@mergify mergify Bot added the bug Something isn't working label Aug 10, 2026
@UgaTheDev

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This is blocked on pre-run-check, which gates CI until an author has 4 merged PRs. #51627 merged yesterday so the count is 1, and this cannot run its tests until someone starts them.

Could a maintainer run /ci run? The defect is reproducible in a few lines:

common_broadcastable_dtype([float16, bfloat16]) -> torch.float16
common_broadcastable_dtype([bfloat16, float16]) -> torch.bfloat16

Neither is a lossless target for the other, so the function returns a dtype that violates its own docstring, and which of the two you get depends on iteration order. The cause is that max(dtypes, key=...) is an argmax over the input set, so it can only return a dtype that was passed in, while the correct answer here is float32. The fix is functools.reduce(torch.promote_types, dtypes), and I verified it matches current behaviour on all four existing parametrised cases before adding the new one.

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