Edge 462: What is Fast-LLM. The New Popular Framework for Pretraining your Own LLMs
Created by ServiceNow, the framework provides the key building blocks for pretraining AI models.
Pretraining foundation models is often perceived as a capability reserved for big AI labs. Compute coordination ,data orchestration, constant experiments and the AI talent requirement are some of the challenges that make pretraining AI models prohibited for most organizations. However, the emergence of trends such as small language models(SLMs) or sovereign AI have pushed the idea that many companies are going to be building proprietary AI models. In that sense, lowering the bar for pretraining foundation models. And yet, there are very few frameworks that streamline those processes for companies.
Fast-LLM is an open-source library specifically designed for training Large Language Models (LLMs) with a focus on speed, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Developed by ServiceNow Research’s Foundation Models Lab, Fast-LLM aims to empower AI professionals, researchers, and enterprises in pushing the boundaries of generative AI. This essay provides a deep dive into Fast-LLM, highlighting its key capabilities and core architectural components.