Over the past four months, Meta operated an innovative accelerator program dedicated to Israeli AI startups. Chosen from dozens of applicants, 10 early-stage Israeli companies were selected to participate. The program's closing event was held on Wednesday at Meta's development center in Tel Aviv.
In addition to showcasing the participating startups, the company presented its XR vision, integrated with the AI technologies it is developing. The presentation hinted that the third generation of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses is already in advanced development and will include features introduced in the Orion prototype.
For the participating startups, the program included four months of intensive work at Meta's Tel Aviv R&D center, offering guidance and workshops led by industry leaders: Meta's CEO in Israel Adi Soffer-Teeni, senior Nvidia data scientist Amit Bleiweiss, AI21 product manager Noa Zehavi, Amazon AWS startup tech head Liron Dor, Meta AI researcher Oren Gafni, and Liron Glikman, international consultant and lecturer on networking and global business development.
The selected companies represented a wide range of AI applications. According to data presented by Soffer-Teeni, approximately 30% of Israeli startups today are engaged in generative AI. The participating companies included:
QR Genetics: Developing AI solutions to accelerate drug discovery for genetic diseases.
Twee: An AI platform assisting English teachers in creating innovative learning materials.
Lucid Dreams: Creating an "AI-powered CFO" for small and medium businesses.
Adge: Developing AI solutions for creative teams.
Vinst: Developing a personal assistant for home cooking.
Spines: An AI-based advertising platform for authors and publishers.
OrCam Hear: Creating a device for hearing and isolating background noise.
Panjaya: Developing an AI solution for video translation while preserving natural voices and synchronization.
"I'm thrilled to be here today to celebrate the conclusion of our four-month accelerator program," Soffer-Teeni said at the event. "The companies selected from dozens of applicants chosen by a panel of Meta representatives and industry investors showcase groundbreaking and inspiring innovation in AI across various fields."
She also noted that, while AI offers inherent advantages to large tech companies due to the need for vast amounts of data, startups can still provide innovative ideas in the field.
She stressed Meta's ongoing commitment to AI, highlighting the recent launch of Llama 3.3, an open-source language model available for free use. "We're dedicating significant resources to make this model accessible to the open-source community," she said.
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Llama also serves as the foundation for Meta's personal AI assistant, Meta AI, which already has over half a billion users worldwide. She also mentioned that some of the participating companies have already secured funding for further development, with their estimated combined market value reaching $68 million.