In a landmark move, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), has announced a substantial commitment of US$230 million to accelerate the development of gen AI startups and applications around the world, including those in the Philippines.
This investment aims to provide vital support to Gen AI startups or early-stage companies, equipping them with AWS credits, mentorship, and educational resources to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
Empowering the next wave of GenAI innovation
As part of this initiative, AWS will fund the second cohort of the AWS Generative AI Accelerator. This program offers hands-on expertise and up to US$1 million in credits to each of the top 80 early-stage gen AI startups utilizing generative AI to tackle complex problems. Applications for the accelerator program are now open and will be accepted until July 19, 2024.
“For more than 18 years, AWS has been the go-to cloud provider for gen AI startups, enabling them to build, launch, and scale their businesses,” said Matt Wood, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence Products at AWS. “It’s no coincidence that 96% of all AI/ML unicorns run on AWS. With this new effort, we will help startups launch and scale world-class businesses, providing the building blocks they need to unleash new AI applications that will impact all facets of how the world learns, connects, and does business.”
Extensive resources for Gen AI startups, cutting-edge technology
Gen AI startups selected for the AWS Generative AI Accelerator will benefit from AWS credits that can be used for access to AWS compute, storage, and database technologies, as well as specialized AI chips like AWS Trainium and AWS Inferentia2, which offer high performance at the lowest cost.
Additionally, these credits can be utilized on Amazon SageMaker, a fully managed service for building and training machine learning models, and Amazon Bedrock, which facilitates the development of generative AI applications.
The AWS Generative AI Accelerator program has a history of nurturing successful Gen AI startups. The program identifies top early-stage companies using generative AI to address challenges in various sectors, including financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, business, and climate change.
Over a 10-week period, participants will engage in sessions focused on ML performance enhancement, stack optimization, and go-to-market strategies. Each startup will be paired with business and technical mentors based on their industry vertical and will receive up to US$1 million in AWS credits to build, test, and launch their AI solutions.
Partnership opportunities, key dates and events
This year’s program features NVIDIA as the presenting partner, offering startups access to industry experts, technology, and technical sessions. Participants will also be invited to join the NVIDIA Inception program, designed to support cutting-edge startups.
Selected startups for the second cohort will be announced on September 10, with the program kicking off on October 1 at Amazon’s Seattle campus. All 80 participating startups will showcase their innovations at re2024 in Las Vegas this December, presenting to potential investors, customers, partners, and AWS leaders.
Jachin Bhasme, co-founder and COO of Leonardo.AI, highlighted the accelerator’s impact, saying, “AWS has been instrumental in enabling us to scale our generative AI platform to meet the rapidly growing demand from our global user community. The accelerator provided incredible business and technical mentorship, and the connections we made were crucial in shaping our product and strategy.”
Nima Alidoust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Vevo Therapeutics, echoed this sentiment, saying, “AWS has the right combination of technology, network of partners, and potential customers in the life sciences space. Participating in the AWS Generative AI Accelerator program provided us with valuable opportunities to leverage AWS’s infrastructure and expertise in scaling model training and development.”
How to apply
Startups interested in the AWS Generative AI Accelerator can learn more and apply by visiting startups.aws. For further information, including how to access AWS funds, check the detailed application process on the AWS website.
This initiative by AWS underscores its commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the next generation of AI-driven startups, ensuring they have the resources and guidance needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.