# Alignment Collapse Under KV Cache Quantization: Diagnosis and Mitigation

**Source:** https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.09864  
**Authors or institution:** Bruce Changlong Xu, Adarsh Kumarappan, Mu Zhou  
**Publication date:** 2026-06-01  
**Publication status:** arXiv preprint; OpenReview page available  
**Evidence level:** Emerging evidence  
**Date last reviewed in UTC:** 2026-06-26T00:00:00Z

## Direct findings or source content

Low-bit KV cache quantization can degrade refusal/alignment behavior while conventional metrics remain stable in tested settings.

## Cognivirus interpretation

For Cognivirus.com, this source is used to examine risk at the level of adaptive systems, component compositions, evaluator boundaries, and behavioral persistence. The site interpretation is narrower than the source when the source is experimental, and more explicitly qualified when the source is architectural or programmatic.

## Limits

Very recent preprint; production applicability depends on quantizer, model, deployment, and mitigations. That every KV cache optimization produces the same failure mode.

## Source handling

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