Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., has announced a substantial $230 million commitment to accelerate the creation of generative AI applications worldwide. This initiative is set to empower startups, particularly those in the early stages, by providing them with AWS credits, mentorship, and educational resources to enhance their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.

Part of this new investment will fund the second cohort of the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, a program designed to provide hands-on expertise and up to $1 million in credits to each of the top 80 early-stage startups that are harnessing generative AI to tackle complex challenges. Applications for this program are now open, with the deadline set for July 19.

Matt Wood, vice president of Artificial Intelligence Products at AWS, emphasized the impact of AWS on startup growth, noting, “For more than 18 years, AWS has helped more startups to build, launch, and scale their business than any other cloud provider—it’s no coincidence that 96% of all AI/ML unicorns run on AWS.” With this new initiative, AWS aims to provide startups with the necessary tools to launch and scale world-class businesses and develop new AI applications that will transform how the world learns, connects, and conducts business.

Startups participating in the program will have access to AWS credits that can be applied towards AWS compute, storage, and database technologies. They will also benefit from AWS Trainium and AWS Inferentia2, energy-efficient AI chips that deliver high performance at low costs, and Amazon SageMaker, which aids companies in building and training machine learning models.

The AWS Generative AI Accelerator has already proven successful, with participants like Leonardo.AI and Vevo Therapeutics sharing positive outcomes. Jachin Bhasme, co-founder and COO of Leonardo.AI, highlighted the significant cost savings and performance improvements his company achieved through the program. Nima Alidoust, Ph.D., CEO of Vevo Therapeutics, praised AWS for providing the infrastructure and community support crucial for developing advanced AI models for drug discovery.

The program is set to commence with in-person sessions on October 1 at Amazon’s Seattle campus, culminating in a major showcase event at re:Invent 2024 in Las Vegas in December, where startups will present their solutions to potential investors, customers, partners, and AWS leaders.

This strategic investment by AWS is poised to significantly influence the generative AI landscape by equipping startups with the resources to innovate and excel. The program not only supports the development of cutting-edge AI solutions but also fosters a vibrant ecosystem for technological advancement and entrepreneurship.

  artificial intelligence investment, AWS, generative AI, machine learning technology, startup accelerator