diff --git a/tests/basic_correctness/test_basic_correctness.py b/tests/basic_correctness/test_basic_correctness.py
index 86b5e1e0ab7..11c8e7a4b9d 100644
--- a/tests/basic_correctness/test_basic_correctness.py
+++ b/tests/basic_correctness/test_basic_correctness.py
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ def _fix_prompt_embed_outputs(
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model", MODELS)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("backend", ["FLASH_ATTN"])
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", ["half"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("max_tokens", [5])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("enforce_eager", [False])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("enable_prompt_embeds", [True, False])
@@ -69,7 +68,6 @@ def test_models(
     hf_runner,
     model: str,
     backend: str,
-    dtype: str,
     max_tokens: int,
     enforce_eager: bool,
     enable_prompt_embeds: bool,
@@ -97,7 +95,7 @@ def test_models(
             str(i) for i in range(1024)) + " are:"
         example_prompts = [prompt]
 
-        with hf_runner(model, dtype=dtype) as hf_model:
+        with hf_runner(model) as hf_model:
             hf_outputs = hf_model.generate_greedy(example_prompts, max_tokens)
             if enable_prompt_embeds:
                 with torch.no_grad():
@@ -106,7 +104,6 @@ def test_models(
 
         with VllmRunner(model,
                         max_model_len=8192,
-                        dtype=dtype,
                         enforce_eager=enforce_eager,
                         enable_prompt_embeds=enable_prompt_embeds,
                         gpu_memory_utilization=0.7) as vllm_model:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 26674483f7a..6336c6c2ce0 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -324,7 +324,12 @@ def __init__(
             trust_remote_code=trust_remote_code,
         )
         self.device = self.get_default_device()
-        self.dtype = torch_dtype = _get_and_verify_dtype(self.config, dtype)
+        self.dtype = torch_dtype = _get_and_verify_dtype(
+            self.model_name,
+            self.config,
+            dtype=dtype,
+            is_pooling_model=is_sentence_transformer or is_cross_encoder,
+        )
 
         model_kwargs = model_kwargs if model_kwargs is not None else {}
         model_kwargs.setdefault("torch_dtype", torch_dtype)
diff --git a/tests/models/language/pooling/mteb_utils.py b/tests/models/language/pooling/mteb_utils.py
index f4837ae952c..f45168bc0f1 100644
--- a/tests/models/language/pooling/mteb_utils.py
+++ b/tests/models/language/pooling/mteb_utils.py
@@ -102,21 +102,18 @@ def mteb_test_embed_models(hf_runner,
         vllm_main_score = run_mteb_embed_task(VllmMtebEncoder(vllm_model),
                                               MTEB_EMBED_TASKS)
         vllm_dtype = vllm_model.model.llm_engine.model_config.dtype
-        model_dtype = getattr(
-            vllm_model.model.llm_engine.model_config.hf_config, "torch_dtype",
-            vllm_dtype)
 
-    with set_default_torch_dtype(model_dtype) and hf_runner(
+    with set_default_torch_dtype(vllm_dtype) and hf_runner(
             model_info.name, is_sentence_transformer=True,
-            dtype=model_dtype) as hf_model:
+            dtype=vllm_dtype) as hf_model:
 
         if hf_model_callback is not None:
             hf_model_callback(hf_model)
 
         st_main_score = run_mteb_embed_task(hf_model, MTEB_EMBED_TASKS)
 
-    print("VLLM:", vllm_dtype, vllm_main_score)
-    print("SentenceTransformer:", model_dtype, st_main_score)
+    print("VLLM:", vllm_main_score)
+    print("SentenceTransformers:", st_main_score)
     print("Difference:", st_main_score - vllm_main_score)
 
     assert st_main_score == pytest.approx(vllm_main_score, abs=MTEB_EMBED_TOL)
diff --git a/tests/models/language/pooling/test_classification.py b/tests/models/language/pooling/test_classification.py
index 44af3df08a8..57b3cb58d88 100644
--- a/tests/models/language/pooling/test_classification.py
+++ b/tests/models/language/pooling/test_classification.py
@@ -43,6 +43,6 @@ def test_models(
 
         # the tolerance value of 1e-2 is selected based on the
         # half datatype tests in
-        # tests/models/embedding/language/test_embedding.py
+        # tests/models/language/pooling/test_embedding.py
         assert torch.allclose(hf_output, vllm_output,
                               1e-3 if dtype == "float" else 1e-2)
diff --git a/tests/models/language/pooling/test_embedding.py b/tests/models/language/pooling/test_embedding.py
index 306cfdf3770..8f82c8091af 100644
--- a/tests/models/language/pooling/test_embedding.py
+++ b/tests/models/language/pooling/test_embedding.py
@@ -30,13 +30,11 @@
         pytest.param("sentence-transformers/stsb-roberta-base-v2"),
     ],
 )
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", ["half"])
 def test_models(
     hf_runner,
     vllm_runner,
     example_prompts,
     model,
-    dtype: str,
     monkeypatch,
 ) -> None:
 
@@ -58,13 +56,11 @@ def test_models(
     # So we need to strip the input texts to avoid test failing.
     example_prompts = [str(s).strip() for s in example_prompts]
 
-    with hf_runner(model, dtype=dtype,
-                   is_sentence_transformer=True) as hf_model:
+    with hf_runner(model, is_sentence_transformer=True) as hf_model:
         hf_outputs = hf_model.encode(example_prompts)
 
     with vllm_runner(model,
                      task="embed",
-                     dtype=dtype,
                      max_model_len=None,
                      **vllm_extra_kwargs) as vllm_model:
         vllm_outputs = vllm_model.encode(example_prompts)
diff --git a/tests/models/multimodal/generation/test_whisper.py b/tests/models/multimodal/generation/test_whisper.py
index 4e48bdbd042..d0b85842a3d 100644
--- a/tests/models/multimodal/generation/test_whisper.py
+++ b/tests/models/multimodal/generation/test_whisper.py
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ def run_test(
 
     with vllm_runner(
             model,
+            dtype="half",
             max_model_len=448,
             tensor_parallel_size=tensor_parallel_size,
             distributed_executor_backend=distributed_executor_backend,
diff --git a/tests/models/multimodal/processing/test_common.py b/tests/models/multimodal/processing/test_common.py
index 572fa366d33..d7f950c23d9 100644
--- a/tests/models/multimodal/processing/test_common.py
+++ b/tests/models/multimodal/processing/test_common.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def _test_processing_correctness(
         tokenizer_mode=model_info.tokenizer_mode,
         trust_remote_code=model_info.trust_remote_code,
         seed=0,
-        dtype="float16",
+        dtype="auto",
         revision=None,
         hf_overrides=model_info.hf_overrides,
     )
diff --git a/tests/samplers/test_no_bad_words.py b/tests/samplers/test_no_bad_words.py
index 355e3adcf5f..f9688b4b9b2 100644
--- a/tests/samplers/test_no_bad_words.py
+++ b/tests/samplers/test_no_bad_words.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def setup_method(self, method):
                                                 add_special_tokens=False)[0]
 
     def test_two_token_bad_word(self, vllm_runner):
-        with vllm_runner(self.MODEL) as llm:
+        with vllm_runner(self.MODEL, dtype="half") as llm:
             output_token_ids = self._generate(llm)
             assert output_token_ids[:2] == [
                 self.target_token_id1, self.target_token_id2
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 0b88d05efea..dd8777f0688 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
 from vllm.config import ParallelConfig, VllmConfig, set_current_vllm_config
 from vllm.utils import (CacheInfo, FlexibleArgumentParser, LRUCache,
                         MemorySnapshot, PlaceholderModule, StoreBoolean,
-                        bind_kv_cache, deprecate_kwargs, get_open_port,
+                        bind_kv_cache, common_broadcastable_dtype,
+                        deprecate_kwargs, get_open_port, is_lossless_cast,
                         make_zmq_path, make_zmq_socket, memory_profiling,
                         merge_async_iterators, sha256, split_zmq_path,
                         supports_kw, swap_dict_values)
@@ -567,12 +568,65 @@ def test_lru_cache():
     assert 6 in cache
 
 
+# yapf: disable
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("src_dtype", "tgt_dtype", "expected_result"),
+    [
+        # Different precision_levels
+        (torch.bool, torch.int8, True),
+        (torch.bool, torch.float16, True),
+        (torch.bool, torch.complex32, True),
+        (torch.int64, torch.bool, False),
+        (torch.int64, torch.float16, True),
+        (torch.int64, torch.complex32, True),
+        (torch.float64, torch.bool, False),
+        (torch.float64, torch.int8, False),
+        (torch.float64, torch.complex32, True),
+        (torch.complex128, torch.bool, False),
+        (torch.complex128, torch.int8, False),
+        (torch.complex128, torch.float16, False),
+        # precision_level=0
+        (torch.bool, torch.bool, True),
+        # precision_level=1
+        (torch.int8, torch.int16, True),
+        (torch.int16, torch.int8, False),
+        (torch.uint8, torch.int8, False),
+        (torch.int8, torch.uint8, False),
+        # precision_level=2
+        (torch.float16, torch.float32, True),
+        (torch.float32, torch.float16, False),
+        (torch.bfloat16, torch.float32, True),
+        (torch.float32, torch.bfloat16, False),
+        # precision_level=3
+        (torch.complex32, torch.complex64, True),
+        (torch.complex64, torch.complex32, False),
+    ],
+)
+# yapf: enable
+def test_is_lossless_cast(src_dtype, tgt_dtype, expected_result):
+    assert is_lossless_cast(src_dtype, tgt_dtype) == expected_result
+
+
+# yapf: disable
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("dtypes", "expected_result"),
+    [
+        ([torch.bool], torch.bool),
+        ([torch.bool, torch.int8], torch.int8),
+        ([torch.bool, torch.int8, torch.float16], torch.float16),
+        ([torch.bool, torch.int8, torch.float16, torch.complex32], torch.complex32),  # noqa: E501
+    ],
+)
+# yapf: enable
+def test_common_broadcastable_dtype(dtypes, expected_result):
+    assert common_broadcastable_dtype(dtypes) == expected_result
+
+
 def test_placeholder_module_error_handling():
     placeholder = PlaceholderModule("placeholder_1234")
 
     def build_ctx():
-        return pytest.raises(ModuleNotFoundError,
-                             match="No module named")
+        return pytest.raises(ModuleNotFoundError, match="No module named")
 
     with build_ctx():
         int(placeholder)
@@ -608,6 +662,7 @@ def build_ctx():
         _ = placeholder_attr.module
 
 
+# yapf: disable
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "obj,key1,key2",
     [
@@ -618,6 +673,7 @@ def build_ctx():
         # Tests for both keys do not exist
         ({1: "a", 2: "b"}, 3, 4),
     ])
+# yapf: enable
 def test_swap_dict_values(obj, key1, key2):
     original_obj = obj.copy()
     swap_dict_values(obj, key1, key2)
@@ -631,19 +687,19 @@ def test_swap_dict_values(obj, key1, key2):
         assert key1 not in obj
 
 
-def test_model_specification(parser_with_config,
-                             cli_config_file,
+def test_model_specification(parser_with_config, cli_config_file,
                              cli_config_file_with_model):
     # Test model in CLI takes precedence over config
-    args = parser_with_config.parse_args([
-        'serve', 'cli-model', '--config', cli_config_file_with_model
-    ])
+    args = parser_with_config.parse_args(
+        ['serve', 'cli-model', '--config', cli_config_file_with_model])
     assert args.model_tag == 'cli-model'
     assert args.served_model_name == 'mymodel'
 
     # Test model from config file works
     args = parser_with_config.parse_args([
-        'serve', '--config', cli_config_file_with_model,
+        'serve',
+        '--config',
+        cli_config_file_with_model,
     ])
     assert args.model == 'config-model'
     assert args.served_model_name == 'mymodel'
@@ -654,17 +710,19 @@ def test_model_specification(parser_with_config,
 
     # Test using --model option raises error
     with pytest.raises(
-        ValueError,
-        match=(
-            "With `vllm serve`, you should provide the model as a positional "
-            "argument or in a config file instead of via the `--model` option."
-        ),
+            ValueError,
+            match=
+        ("With `vllm serve`, you should provide the model as a positional "
+         "argument or in a config file instead of via the `--model` option."),
     ):
         parser_with_config.parse_args(['serve', '--model', 'my-model'])
 
     # Test other config values are preserved
     args = parser_with_config.parse_args([
-        'serve', 'cli-model', '--config', cli_config_file_with_model,
+        'serve',
+        'cli-model',
+        '--config',
+        cli_config_file_with_model,
     ])
     assert args.tensor_parallel_size == 2
     assert args.trust_remote_code is True
@@ -673,7 +731,7 @@ def test_model_specification(parser_with_config,
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("input", [(), ("abc", ), (None, ),
-                                    (None, bool, [1, 2, 3])])
+                                   (None, bool, [1, 2, 3])])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("output", [0, 1, 2])
 def test_sha256(input: tuple, output: int):
     hash = sha256(input)
@@ -682,7 +740,8 @@ def test_sha256(input: tuple, output: int):
     assert hash != 0
 
     bytes = pickle.dumps(input, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
-    assert hash == int.from_bytes(hashlib.sha256(bytes).digest(), byteorder="big")
+    assert hash == int.from_bytes(hashlib.sha256(bytes).digest(),
+                                  byteorder="big")
 
     # hashing again, returns the same value
     assert hash == sha256(input)
@@ -698,8 +757,7 @@ def test_sha256(input: tuple, output: int):
         ("tcp://127.0.0.1:5555", ("tcp", "127.0.0.1", "5555")),
         ("tcp://[::1]:5555", ("tcp", "::1", "5555")),  # IPv6 address
         ("inproc://some_identifier", ("inproc", "some_identifier", "")),
-    ]
-)
+    ])
 def test_split_zmq_path(path, expected):
     assert split_zmq_path(path) == expected
 
@@ -711,8 +769,7 @@ def test_split_zmq_path(path, expected):
         "tcp://127.0.0.1",  # Missing port
         "tcp://[::1]",  # Missing port for IPv6
         "tcp://:5555",  # Missing host
-    ]
-)
+    ])
 def test_split_zmq_path_invalid(invalid_path):
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         split_zmq_path(invalid_path)
@@ -734,7 +791,8 @@ def test_make_zmq_socket_ipv6():
     zsock: zmq.Socket = make_zmq_socket(ctx, ipv6_path, socket_type)
 
     # Verify that the IPV6 option is set
-    assert zsock.getsockopt(zmq.IPV6) == 1, "IPV6 option should be enabled for IPv6 addresses"
+    assert zsock.getsockopt(
+        zmq.IPV6) == 1, "IPV6 option should be enabled for IPv6 addresses"
 
     # Clean up
     zsock.close()
diff --git a/vllm/config.py b/vllm/config.py
index 6cec97a5f11..5776fc5f353 100644
--- a/vllm/config.py
+++ b/vllm/config.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 from pydantic import (ConfigDict, SkipValidation, TypeAdapter, field_validator,
                       model_validator)
 from pydantic.dataclasses import dataclass
+from safetensors.torch import _TYPES as _SAFETENSORS_TO_TORCH_DTYPE
 from torch.distributed import ProcessGroup, ReduceOp
 from transformers import PretrainedConfig
 from typing_extensions import deprecated, runtime_checkable
@@ -42,15 +43,16 @@
     ConfigFormat, get_config, get_hf_image_processor_config,
     get_hf_text_config, get_pooling_config,
     get_sentence_transformer_tokenizer_config, is_encoder_decoder,
-    try_get_generation_config, uses_mrope)
+    try_get_generation_config, try_get_safetensors_metadata, uses_mrope)
 from vllm.transformers_utils.s3_utils import S3Model
 from vllm.transformers_utils.utils import is_s3, maybe_model_redirect
 from vllm.utils import (DEFAULT_MAX_NUM_BATCHED_TOKENS,
                         MULTIMODAL_MODEL_MAX_NUM_BATCHED_TOKENS,
                         POOLING_MODEL_MAX_NUM_BATCHED_TOKENS, GiB_bytes,
-                        LayerBlockType, cuda_device_count_stateless,
-                        get_cpu_memory, get_open_port, is_torch_equal_or_newer,
-                        random_uuid, resolve_obj_by_qualname)
+                        LayerBlockType, common_broadcastable_dtype,
+                        cuda_device_count_stateless, get_cpu_memory,
+                        get_open_port, is_torch_equal_or_newer, random_uuid,
+                        resolve_obj_by_qualname)
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from _typeshed import DataclassInstance
@@ -540,7 +542,24 @@ def __post_init__(self) -> None:
         self.encoder_config = self._get_encoder_config()
         self.hf_image_processor_config = get_hf_image_processor_config(
             self.model, hf_token=self.hf_token, revision=self.revision)
-        self.dtype = _get_and_verify_dtype(self.hf_config, self.dtype)
+
+        supported_tasks, task = self._resolve_task(self.task)
+        self.supported_tasks = supported_tasks
+        self.task = task
+        if self.task in ("draft", "generate"):
+            self.truncation_side = "left"
+        else:
+            self.truncation_side = "right"
+
+        self.pooler_config = self._init_pooler_config()
+
+        self.dtype = _get_and_verify_dtype(
+            self.model,
+            self.hf_config,
+            self.dtype,
+            is_pooling_model=self.runner_type == "pooling",
+            revision=self.revision,
+        )
 
         # Workaround for Gemma 2 which uses interleaved sliding window
         # attention, but it's not specified in its config. TODO: remove this
@@ -597,16 +616,6 @@ def __post_init__(self) -> None:
             raise ValueError(
                 "`override_neuron_config` is only supported on Neuron.")
 
-        supported_tasks, task = self._resolve_task(self.task)
-        self.supported_tasks = supported_tasks
-        self.task = task
-        if self.task in ("draft", "generate"):
-            self.truncation_side = "left"
-        else:
-            self.truncation_side = "right"
-
-        self.pooler_config = self._init_pooler_config()
-
         self._verify_quantization()
         self._verify_cuda_graph()
         self._verify_bnb_config()
@@ -692,7 +701,6 @@ def _get_encoder_config(self):
             self.model, self.revision)
 
     def _init_pooler_config(self) -> Optional["PoolerConfig"]:
-
         if self.runner_type == "pooling":
             if isinstance(self.override_pooler_config, dict):
                 self.override_pooler_config = PoolerConfig(
@@ -3064,13 +3072,37 @@ def compute_hash(self) -> str:
     "bfloat16": torch.bfloat16,
 }
 
-_ROCM_NOT_SUPPORTED_DTYPE: list[str] = []  #
+# model_type -> reason
+_FLOAT16_NOT_SUPPORTED_MODELS = {
+    "gemma2": "Numerical instability. Please use bfloat16 or float32 instead.",
+    "gemma3": "Numerical instability. Please use bfloat16 or float32 instead.",
+    "plamo2": "Numerical instability. Please use bfloat16 or float32 instead.",
+    "glm4": "Numerical instability. Please use bfloat16 or float32 instead.",
+}
 
 
-def _get_and_verify_dtype(
+def _is_valid_dtype(model_type: str, dtype: torch.dtype):
+    if model_type in _FLOAT16_NOT_SUPPORTED_MODELS and dtype == torch.float16:  # noqa: E501, SIM103
+        return False
+
+    return True
+
+
+def _check_valid_dtype(model_type: str, dtype: torch.dtype):
+    if model_type in _FLOAT16_NOT_SUPPORTED_MODELS and dtype == torch.float16:
+        reason = _FLOAT16_NOT_SUPPORTED_MODELS[model_type]
+        raise ValueError(f"The model type {model_type!r} "
+                         f"does not support float16. Reason: {reason}")
+
+    return True
+
+
+def _find_dtype(
+    model_id: str,
     config: PretrainedConfig,
-    dtype: Union[str, torch.dtype],
-) -> torch.dtype:
+    *,
+    revision: Optional[str],
+):
     # NOTE: getattr(config, "torch_dtype", torch.float32) is not correct
     # because config.torch_dtype can be None.
     config_dtype = getattr(config, "torch_dtype", None)
@@ -3082,75 +3114,111 @@ def _get_and_verify_dtype(
     if config_dtype is None and hasattr(config, "vision_config"):
         config_dtype = getattr(config.vision_config, "torch_dtype", None)
 
+    # Try to read the dtype of the weights if they are in safetensors format
+    if config_dtype is None:
+        repo_mt = try_get_safetensors_metadata(model_id, revision=revision)
+
+        if repo_mt and (files_mt := repo_mt.files_metadata):
+            param_dtypes: set[torch.dtype] = {
+                _SAFETENSORS_TO_TORCH_DTYPE[dtype_str]
+                for file_mt in files_mt.values()
+                for dtype_str in file_mt.parameter_count
+                if dtype_str in _SAFETENSORS_TO_TORCH_DTYPE
+            }
+
+            if param_dtypes:
+                return common_broadcastable_dtype(param_dtypes)
+
     if config_dtype is None:
         config_dtype = torch.float32
 
-    if isinstance(dtype, str):
-        dtype = dtype.lower()
-        if dtype == "auto":
-            # Set default dtype from model config
-            if config_dtype == torch.float32:
-                # Following common practice, we use float16 for float32 models
-                torch_dtype = torch.float16
-            else:
-                torch_dtype = config_dtype
+    return config_dtype
 
-            if config.model_type == "plamo2":
-                logger.warning(
-                    "For PLaMo2, we cast models to bfloat16 instead of using "
-                    "float16 by default. This is because float16 does not work."
-                )
-                torch_dtype = torch.bfloat16
 
-            # Deal with torch dtype fallback for device compatibility.
-            from vllm.platforms import current_platform
-            if torch_dtype not in current_platform.supported_dtypes:
-                device_name = current_platform.get_device_name()
+def _resolve_auto_dtype(
+    model_type: str,
+    config_dtype: torch.dtype,
+    *,
+    is_pooling_model: bool,
+):
+    from vllm.platforms import current_platform
 
-                if ((capability := current_platform.get_device_capability())
-                        is None):
-                    compute_str = ""
-                else:
-                    version_str = capability.as_version_str()
-                    compute_str = f" (with compute capability {version_str})"
-                fallback_dtype = current_platform.supported_dtypes[0]
-                logger.warning(
-                    "Your %s device%s doesn't support %s. " \
-                    "Falling back to %s for compatibility.",
-                    device_name, compute_str, torch_dtype, fallback_dtype
-                    )
-                torch_dtype = fallback_dtype
+    supported_dtypes = [
+        dtype for dtype in current_platform.supported_dtypes
+        if _is_valid_dtype(model_type, dtype)
+    ]
 
-            if current_platform.is_hpu() and torch_dtype == torch.float16:
-                logger.warning(
-                    "For HPU, we cast models to bfloat16 instead of "
-                    "using float16 by default. Please specify `dtype` if you "
-                    "want to use float16.")
-                torch_dtype = torch.bfloat16
-        elif dtype == "float16" and config.model_type == "plamo2":
-            logger.warning(
-                "For PLaMo2, using float16 is unstable and might cause "
-                "unexpected behavior. Please use bfloat16 or float32 instead.")
-            torch_dtype = torch.float16
+    if is_pooling_model and torch.float16 in supported_dtypes:
+        preferred_dtype = torch.float16
+    else:
+        preferred_dtype = supported_dtypes[0]
+
+    # Downcast for float32 models
+    if config_dtype == torch.float32:
+        config_dtype = preferred_dtype
+
+    if config_dtype in supported_dtypes:
+        return config_dtype
+
+    # Ensure device compatibility
+    device_name = current_platform.get_device_name()
+    device_capability = current_platform.get_device_capability()
+
+    if device_capability is None:
+        device_str = f"{device_name!r}"
+    else:
+        version_str = device_capability.as_version_str()
+        device_str = f"{device_name!r} (with compute capability {version_str})"
+
+    logger.warning(
+        "Your device %s doesn't support %s. "
+        "Falling back to %s for compatibility.",
+        device_str,
+        config_dtype,
+        preferred_dtype,
+    )
+
+    return preferred_dtype
+
+
+def _get_and_verify_dtype(
+    model_id: str,
+    config: PretrainedConfig,
+    dtype: Union[str, torch.dtype],
+    *,
+    is_pooling_model: bool,
+    revision: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> torch.dtype:
+    config_dtype = _find_dtype(model_id, config, revision=revision)
+    model_type = config.model_type
+
+    if isinstance(dtype, str):
+        dtype = dtype.lower()
+        if dtype == "auto":
+            # Set default dtype from model config
+            torch_dtype = _resolve_auto_dtype(
+                model_type,
+                config_dtype,
+                is_pooling_model=is_pooling_model,
+            )
         else:
             if dtype not in _STR_DTYPE_TO_TORCH_DTYPE:
-                raise ValueError(f"Unknown dtype: {dtype}")
+                raise ValueError(f"Unknown dtype: {dtype!r}")
             torch_dtype = _STR_DTYPE_TO_TORCH_DTYPE[dtype]
     elif isinstance(dtype, torch.dtype):
         torch_dtype = dtype
     else:
         raise ValueError(f"Unknown dtype: {dtype}")
 
-    # Verify the dtype.
+    _check_valid_dtype(model_type, torch_dtype)
+
     if torch_dtype != config_dtype:
         if torch_dtype == torch.float32:
             # Upcasting to float32 is allowed.
             logger.info("Upcasting %s to %s.", config_dtype, torch_dtype)
-            pass
         elif config_dtype == torch.float32:
             # Downcasting from float32 to float16 or bfloat16 is allowed.
             logger.info("Downcasting %s to %s.", config_dtype, torch_dtype)
-            pass
         else:
             # Casting between float16 and bfloat16 is allowed with a warning.
             logger.warning("Casting %s to %s.", config_dtype, torch_dtype)
diff --git a/vllm/platforms/cpu.py b/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
index c79c603c02e..eaffaac78cc 100644
--- a/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
+++ b/vllm/platforms/cpu.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class CpuPlatform(Platform):
     dispatch_key: str = "CPU"
 
     @property
-    def supported_dtypes(self) -> list:
+    def supported_dtypes(self) -> list[torch.dtype]:
         if self.get_cpu_architecture() == CpuArchEnum.POWERPC:
             return [torch.bfloat16, torch.float32]
         elif sys.platform.startswith(
diff --git a/vllm/transformers_utils/config.py b/vllm/transformers_utils/config.py
index 2ed71a4d334..8774f95a2f6 100644
--- a/vllm/transformers_utils/config.py
+++ b/vllm/transformers_utils/config.py
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 import json
 import os
 import time
-from functools import cache
+from functools import cache, partial
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, Callable, Literal, Optional, Union
+from typing import Any, Callable, Literal, Optional, TypeVar, Union
 
 import huggingface_hub
-from huggingface_hub import hf_hub_download
+from huggingface_hub import get_safetensors_metadata, hf_hub_download
 from huggingface_hub import list_repo_files as hf_list_repo_files
 from huggingface_hub import try_to_load_from_cache
 from huggingface_hub.utils import (EntryNotFoundError, HfHubHTTPError,
@@ -93,10 +93,15 @@ class ConfigFormat(str, enum.Enum):
     MISTRAL = "mistral"
 
 
-def with_retry(func: Callable[[], Any],
-               log_msg: str,
-               max_retries: int = 2,
-               retry_delay: int = 2):
+_R = TypeVar("_R")
+
+
+def with_retry(
+    func: Callable[[], _R],
+    log_msg: str,
+    max_retries: int = 2,
+    retry_delay: int = 2,
+) -> _R:
     for attempt in range(max_retries):
         try:
             return func()
@@ -109,6 +114,8 @@ def with_retry(func: Callable[[], Any],
             time.sleep(retry_delay)
             retry_delay *= 2
 
+    raise AssertionError("Should not be reached")
+
 
 # @cache doesn't cache exceptions
 @cache
@@ -840,3 +847,22 @@ def get_cross_encoder_activation_function(config: PretrainedConfig):
         return resolve_obj_by_qualname(function_name)()
     else:
         return nn.Sigmoid() if config.num_labels == 1 else nn.Identity()
+
+
+def try_get_safetensors_metadata(
+    model: str,
+    *,
+    revision: Optional[str] = None,
+):
+    get_safetensors_metadata_partial = partial(
+        get_safetensors_metadata,
+        model,
+        revision=revision,
+        token=os.getenv('HF_TOKEN', None),
+    )
+
+    try:
+        return with_retry(get_safetensors_metadata_partial,
+                          "Error retrieving safetensors")
+    except Exception:
+        return None
diff --git a/vllm/utils.py b/vllm/utils.py
index c1213d463c2..3b6acaa37ae 100644
--- a/vllm/utils.py
+++ b/vllm/utils.py
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@
                       _ArgumentGroup)
 from asyncio import FIRST_COMPLETED, AbstractEventLoop, Task
 from collections import UserDict, defaultdict
-from collections.abc import (AsyncGenerator, Awaitable, Generator, Hashable,
-                             Iterable, Iterator, KeysView, Mapping)
+from collections.abc import (AsyncGenerator, Awaitable, Collection, Generator,
+                             Hashable, Iterable, Iterator, KeysView, Mapping)
 from concurrent.futures.process import ProcessPoolExecutor
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from functools import cache, lru_cache, partial, wraps
@@ -979,6 +979,53 @@ def get_dtype_size(dtype: torch.dtype) -> int:
     return torch.tensor([], dtype=dtype).element_size()
 
 
+# bool = 0, int = 1, float = 2, complex = 3
+def _get_precision_level(dtype: torch.dtype) -> int:
+    # NOTE: Complex dtypes return `is_floating_point=False`
+    return ((dtype != torch.bool) + dtype.is_floating_point +
+            dtype.is_complex * 2)
+
+
+def is_lossless_cast(src_dtype: torch.dtype, tgt_dtype: torch.dtype):
+    """
+    Test whether it is lossless to cast a tensor from
+    `src_dtype` to `tgt_dtype`.
+    """
+    if src_dtype == tgt_dtype:
+        return True
+
+    src_level = _get_precision_level(src_dtype)
+    tgt_level = _get_precision_level(tgt_dtype)
+
+    if src_level < tgt_level:
+        return True
+    if src_level > tgt_level:
+        return False
+
+    # Compare integral types
+    if not src_dtype.is_floating_point and not src_dtype.is_complex:
+        src_info = torch.iinfo(src_dtype)
+        tgt_info = torch.iinfo(tgt_dtype)
+        return src_info.min >= tgt_info.min and src_info.max <= tgt_info.max
+
+    # Compare floating-point types
+    src_info = torch.finfo(src_dtype)
+    tgt_info = torch.finfo(tgt_dtype)
+    return (src_info.min >= tgt_info.min and src_info.max <= tgt_info.max
+            and src_info.resolution >= tgt_info.resolution)
+
+
+def common_broadcastable_dtype(dtypes: Collection[torch.dtype]):
+    """
+    Get the common `dtype` where all of the other `dtypes` can be
+    cast to it without losing any information.
+    """
+    return max(
+        dtypes,
+        key=lambda dtype: sum(is_lossless_cast(dt, dtype) for dt in dtypes),
+    )
+
+
 # `collections` helpers
 def is_list_of(
     value: object,