Meta's Llama Impact Grants programme launched in India

The Llama 3.1 AI model comes with 405B parameters and is the largest and most capable open-source AI model.

The Llama 3.1 Impact Grants programme is designed to support the most compelling uses of Meta's open-source AI model for societal benefit.

"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," the company said in a statement.

Llama 3.1 incorporates previously unsupported languages (including French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai), and is efficient in general knowledge, steerability, reasoning, maths, tool use, and multilingual translation.

Meta said this is the second iteration of the Llama Impact Grants programme and will award a total of $2 million.

During the inaugural Llama Impact Grants programme, which supported innovative use cases of Meta's open-source AI models, Llama 2 and Llama 3, the company received over 800 applications from over 90 countries.

Indian organisations can apply for the grant via an open call for applications and also through the regional events series.

During open calls, eligible organisations can apply online for an award of up to $500,000 to support their projects.

Regional events series to be held globally will provide technical guidance and mentorship to prospective applicants and attendees will be considered for a specialised award of up to $100,000, in addition to being considered for the open call award of up to $500,000.

"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," Meta said.

It noted that open-source AI will help ensure that people everywhere can access the benefits and opportunities AI provides.