Social Media platform, Meta, in collaboration with Data Science Africa, has unveiled the Llama Impact Grant, a new initiative aimed at supporting startups and researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The grant seeks to fund innovative projects leveraging Llama, Meta’s open-source large language model, to develop solutions tailored to the region’s unique challenges.

Meta noted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) had more potential than any other modern technology to increase human productivity and creativity, accelerate economic growth, and unlock progress in medical and scientific research.

“To help realise this potential, we are seeking proposals from organisations and individuals across Sub-Saharan Africa leveraging Meta’s open-source large language model, Llama, for economically and socially impactful projects, focusing on areas such as health, science, and agriculture. The winning proposal will receive a grant of $20,000 to help develop these proposals and bring them to market,” it stated.

To harness the potential, Meta has called for proposals from individuals and organizations across Sub-Saharan Africa to develop AI-driven solutions using Llama.

According to Meta’s statement announcing the grant, proposals from startups and researchers will be assessed based on the following: clear and compelling use case for Llama; well-defined path to impact with a large potential user base; expertise and composition of the team; ethical considerations in product development and a realistic budget and timeline. (The Guardian)