The purpose of the Large AI Grand Challenge is to foster the development of large-scale AI models in Europe and to substantially increase the visibility of Europe’s activity in this field. 

The competition will reward innovative startups and SMEs for devising ambitious strategies and making commitments to develop large-scale AI models that will provide a competitive edge for Europe. 

The expected outcome of the Large AI Grand Challenge is the selection of up to four proposals that will receive each up to 250 k€ in funding to create innovative foundational language models that will outperform state-of-the-art systems in a number of relevant tasks. The development of these models should necessarily involve the use of High-Performance Computing (HPC). The submission deadline is 16 January 2024.

To be eligible to apply to the Large AI Grand Challenge, applicants must meet the four following criteria: 

• Be a single legal entity that is a small or medium-sized enterprise (including startups)
• Have technical capacity AND experience working on large-scale AI models. Also consider that projects must focus exclusively on civil applications;
• Be established in one of the Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including overseas countries and territories (OCTs).
• So, don't apply if you are: (part of a) consortium, a university or research centre, an ngo or public organisation or a large company. 

Full information can be found on the call website.

Extra: there is an info session on 12 December.