Facebook to mentor start-ups leveraging AI

Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday launched the "India Innovation Accelerator" programme with a focus on "Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Social Good", under which it would mentor and support promising start-ups which are leveraging AI to address gaps within high social impact areas. "We are an ally for India`s economic growth and social development and this summit is our effort to understand how we can contribute to the development of deep tech in India, as well as corral resources to use these technologies to develop impactful solutions for tough and persistent problems," Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India, said in a statement.

The social media giant also launched "100 Scholarships for students and developers" who are focused on nurturing their ideas for utilising AI for social good. The scholarships would enable the students to gain access to advanced courses on Deep Learning. 

It also launched "Women in AI Hackathons" which is aimed at encouraging diversity within the ecosystem by motivating women developers and women-led start-ups focused on AI. The winners would be provided courses on AI and machine learning (ML) by professors of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. 

"At Facebook we are also committed to growing the local AI ecosystem, which can be achieved by providing support to start-ups, to the student community, and by ensuring diversity within the ecosystem itself," added Mohan.

Another popular Facebook tool under the "AI for Social Good" initiative is its Blood Donation tool which helps connect blood banks and hospitals to blood donors who have registered themselves on the platform. According to the company, to date, more than 35 million people have signed up to be donors globally.