Amazon Web Services has announced it is committing $230 million to support start-ups around the world to accelerate the creation of generative AI applications.
This funding will provide start-ups, especially early-stage companies, with AWS credits, mentorship, and education to further their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies via the AWS Generative AI Accelerator which has opened its doors for the second cohort.
The program will provide hands-on expertise and up to $1 million in credits to each of the top 80 early-stage start-ups that are using generative AI to solve complex challenges. Start-ups can use AWS credits to access AWS compute, storage, and database technologies, as well as AWS Trainium and AWS Inferentia2, energy-efficient AI chips that are touted to offer high performance at the lowest cost. These credits can also be used on Amazon SageMaker, a fully managed service that helps companies build and train their own FMs, as well as access models and tools for building generative AI applications through Amazon Bedrock more effectively in a safe environment.
“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,” Matt Wood, vice president, Artificial Intelligence Products at AWS, said.
The AWS Generative AI Accelerator will identify the top early-stage start-ups that are using generative AI to solve complex challenges in areas such as financial services, healthcare and life sciences, media and entertainment, business, and climate change, among others. Chosen participants will undergo a 10-week program will match participants with both business and technical mentors based on industry vertical.
Applications for the AWS Generative AI Accelerator are open until 19 July. AWS will announce selected startups for the second cohort on September 10, and the program will kick off on October 1 with in-person sessions at Amazon’s Seattle campus.
Aside from the $1 million each in AWS credits, the chosen start-ups will also have access to industry experts, technology, and technical sessions from NVIDIA, the program’s presenting partner, and be invited to join the NVIDIA Inception program, designed to nurture cutting-edge startups.
In addition, all 80 participating start-ups will be invited to attend and showcase their solutions to potential investors, customers, partners, and AWS leaders in December at re:Invent 2024 in Las Vegas.
