Amazon is launching an accelerator program for AI startups

It’s no surprise that AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard require vast amounts of data and computing power to function, which is why small companies in this AI revolution are struggling to compete with tech giants like Google and Microsoft. Now in an effort to solve this issue, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new accelerator program for generative AI startups, which will run for ten weeks and provide participants with access to AI models, tools, machine learning stack optimization, and go-to-market advice.

As part of the program, each startup will receive up to $300,000 in AWS credits to assist in building their company and at the end, startups will also have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to potential investors during a Demo Day in San Francisco. And although the program is open to all AI startups with registrations available worldwide till April 17th, Amazon recommends candidates should have a testing product ready for demonstration.

“We want to empower companies applying generative AI to solutions from legal and marketing, to software engineering, green energy, and life sciences, including drug discovery,” says Amazon.

Advancing Innovation in Generative AI

While Amazon has been slower than other tech giants to invest in AI, the company aims to act as a catalyst that advances innovation in generative AI and forms partnerships. Talking on this topic, Rob Ferguson, AWS’ global head of AI/ML Startups, stated that he believes generative AI is a transformative technology that unlocks new developments and creativity. And AWS is investing in three layers of the generative AI stack to take the technology out of research and make it available to developers of all skill levels and customers of any size.

However, Amazon is not the only company investing in AI as Salesforce recently launched a $250 million investment fund for generative AI startups. Either way, it’s evident that AI is transforming the tech industry, and AWS’ accelerator program is a step towards bringing the technology to more startups.