Amazon Web Services Inc. today launched an accelerator program to support startups in generative artificial intelligence. 

Applications for the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, as the program is called, opened today. Startups have until April 17 to apply. The program is geared toward startups that have a minimal viable product, are seeing at least “some” traction with customers, and plan to scale up their business operations.

AWS will announce the winning applicants at an event scheduled for May 25. For the startups selected to participate, the program will kick off the same day. The AWS Generative AI Accelerator is set to run for 10 weeks starting from the May 25 opening event through July 27.

The cloud giant will provide participating startups with up to $300,000 worth of free cloud services. Additionally, participants are set to receive technical and business advice from the Amazon.com Inc. unit. It will help the startups with tasks such as product development.

“With a program tailored to meet the needs of generative AI startups, the AWS Generative AI Accelerator will provide access to impactful AI models and tools, customized go-to-market strategies, machine learning stack optimization and more,” detailed Howard Wright, vice president and global head of AWS Startups.

The 10-week program will conclude on July 26 and 27 with a Demo Day event in San Francisco. At the event, the participating startups will demonstrate their products to members of the press, investors and customers. Program participants will also gain access to other industry events in the generative AI ecosystem.

The accelerator complements the cloud giant’s existing AWS Activate startup program. The latter, which is open to startups in not only the AI market but also other areas, offers access up to $100,000 worth of AWS credits. Participants also gain access to other resources, including cloud configuration templates and software-as-a-service discounts.

AWS’ top rivals in the cloud market, Microsoft Corp. and Google LLC, also run startup accelerator programs. Like the Amazon unit, both offer companies that join access to free cloud services in their respective platforms and other benefits. 

For cloud providers, running a startup program creates opportunities to partner with companies that could become major customers down the road. In the fast-paced tech industry, a small startup can quickly grow into a large company with a substantial cloud budget. That’s particularly true in growth markets that are drawing significant amounts of venture capital. 

In the generative AI segment that AWS’ new accelerator program targets, startups raised an estimated $2.6 billion from investors last year. That’s up from $1.54 billion in 2021 and $271 million during 2020. It’s believed that there are more than 250 generative AI startups in the market as of late January. 

Photo: Tony Webster/Flickr