The Generative Leap: Tight Sample Complexity for Efficiently Learning Gaussian Multi-Index Models

Alex Damian, Jason D. Lee, Joan Bruna

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 38 Main Conference (NeurIPS 2025) Main Conference Track

In this work we consider generic Gaussian Multi-index models, in which the labels only depend on the (Gaussian) $d$-dimensional inputs through their projection onto a low-dimensional $r = O_d(1)$ subspace, and we study efficient agnostic estimation procedures for this hidden subspace. We introduce the *generative leap* exponent, a natural extension of the generative exponent from Damian et al. 2024 to the multi-index setting. We show that a sample complexity of $n=\Theta(d^{1 \vee k^\star/2})$ is necessary in the class of algorithms captured by the Low-Degree-Polynomial framework; and also sufficient, by giving a sequential estimation procedure based on a spectral U-statistic over appropriate Hermite tensors.

10.52202/085713-0953