Mark Zuckerberg Chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.) | Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.)
Meta recently concluded its Llama Impact Hackathon in London, focusing on AI solutions for public services. The event was held in collaboration with Cerebral Valley and featured over 200 developers from 56 teams using Meta's open-source Llama 3.2 model to tackle issues in healthcare, clean energy, and social mobility.
The winning team, Guardian, developed an AI-powered triage assistant to improve NHS frontline services by reducing waiting times and better allocating resources in A&E departments. Their tool, Atlas, supports medical staff with patient intake and real-time risk assessments while facilitating communication across multiple languages.
The hackathon highlighted the potential of open-source AI for social impact. The top three teams shared a $50,000 prize fund and will receive six weeks of technical mentorship. They can also apply for regional grants up to $100K and global grants up to $500K through the Llama 3.1 Impact Grants.
UK Minister for AI Feryal Clark stated: “It was inspiring to be at Meta and discuss how open source AI can be harnessed for public benefit." Nick Clegg from Meta added: “The UK has the developer talent...to lead in deploying AI.”
Ivan Porollo of Cerebral Valley remarked: “The talent at this London Llama Hackathon was some of the best we’ve ever seen."
Finalists included Guardian with their triage assistant; Gripmind's robotics solution for assisted living; Pharmallama's app for pharmacist-patient interaction; ClimaticAI's energy-saving concept; Team WinAmp's sustainable eating app; and The GoodPath's career guidance platform.
Meta emphasized its commitment to open-source development, noting that since 2023 there have been over 400 million downloads of all Llama versions. The company has issued more than $2 million in Llama Impact Grants and Awards since releasing Llama 2.
Event partners included Cerebral Valley, Groq, Nebius, and Neon who supported participants with various technological resources.
This hackathon is part of Meta’s broader Llama Impact program aimed at addressing local and global challenges through open-source AI initiatives like accelerators and workshops.
