First-ever pitchathon highlights AI potential in Pakistan

LAHORE:The National Incubation Centre for Aerospace Technologies (NICAT), in partnership with Meta, the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication, and Ignite National Technology Fund, hosted first-ever Meta Llama Pitchathon in the Asia-Pacific region.

This groundbreaking event highlighted the tremendous potential of artificial intelligence (AI) through the application of Meta’s cutting-edge Llama 2 and Llama 3 models. The top three companies were selected for the final round, which was graced by the presence of Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT & Telecommunication, as a chief guest. Her participation underscored the government's strong commitment to fostering technological advancement and innovation in Pakistan. In her address, Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated, ‘This Pitchathon is a testament to Pakistan's growing capabilities in AI and technological innovation. The government is dedicated to creating an environment that nurtures talent and encourages the development of cutting-edge solutions that address both local and global challenges. Events like these are crucial in our journey to position Pakistan as a leader in the global digital economy.’

Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Simon Milner, Meta’s vice-president of Public Policy for the Asia-Pacific region, presented certificates to the top three winners. Traversaal.ai, the winner team, which proposed UrduLLama, a large language model (LLM) tailored for the Urdu language, aimed at addressing educational inequality and illiteracy in Pakistan. Answer AI and Qazi AI were runner ups.

Traversaal.ai will be proceeding to Singapore in October 2024 to compete for prize pool of up to $100,000. Simon Milner in his closing remarks said, ‘Meta is committed to supporting the AI ecosystem in this region, and I’m thrilled to see such diverse and impactful ideas emerging from Pakistan's developer community.