The Potential of Open Source AI

We believe AI, more so than any other modern technology, has the potential to increase human productivity, creativity and quality of life, while accelerating economic growth and unlocking progress in education, science and innovation. Open source AI will help ensure that people everywhere have access to the benefits and opportunities AI provides. In order to extend access to the opportunities of AI to even more organizations around the world, we’re launching the second iteration of the Llama Impact Grants program.

Llama 3.1 Impact Grants

Today, we’re excited to announce applications are open for the Llama 3.1 Impact Grants. We’re seeking proposals that employ the new features and capabilities of our newest LLM model, Llama 3.1, for economically and socially impactful projects. Llama 3.1 incorporates previously unsupported languages (including French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai) and is the only open source model that rivals the top AI models in general knowledge, steerability, reasoning, math, tool use and multilingual translation, so there’s enormous potential and we’re excited to see what people come up with.

This year’s awards will total $2 million USD, and there will be two ways to apply: an open call for applications and through our regional events series. During open call, eligible organizations from around the world can apply online for an award of up to $500,000 USD to support their projects. 

We’ll also host a series of events around the world to provide technical guidance and mentorship to prospective applicants. These events will each focus on a theme that local stakeholders, such as civil society groups, businesses, NGOs and policymakers, feel is most urgent to address, including topics such as agriculture, scaled business solutions, health tech, cultural preservation and more. Attendees from each of these events will be considered for a specialized award of up to $100,000 USD in addition to being considered for the open call award of up to $500,000 USD. 

Inaugural Llama Impact Grants

This builds on our inaugural Llama Impact Grants program, which supported innovative use cases of Meta’s open source AI models, Llama 2 and Llama 3, to address critical global challenges, focusing on education, the environment and open innovation. We received over 800 applications from over 90 countries, and both finalists and runners-up were given access to mentorship, support and community. Finalist projects ranged from a Llama-powered math teacher assistant to AI models closing the information gap in maternal healthcare. 

We are inspired by the diverse projects we’ve seen developers undertake around the world to positively impact their communities by building with Llama and we can’t wait to see what else people build with Llama 3.1 in the coming year.

Learn more about the Llama 3.1 Impact Grants program and apply to be considered.