Mozilla Builders: Celebrating community-driven innovation in AI

This year, we celebrated a major milestone: the first Mozilla Builders demo day! More than just a tech event, it was a celebration of creativity, community and bold thinking. With nearly 200 applicants from more than 40 countries, 14 projects were selected for the Builders accelerator, showcasing the diversity and talent shaping the future of AI. Their presentations at demo day demonstrated their innovative visions and impactful ideas. The projects on display weren't just about what's next in AI; they showed us what's possible when people come together to create technology that truly works for everyone - inclusive, responsible and built with trust at its core.

Mozilla's approach to innovation has always focused on giving people more agency in navigating the digital world. From standing up to tech monopolies to empowering developers and everyday users, to building in public, learning through collaboration, and iterating in community, we've consistently prioritized openness, user choice, and community. Now, as we navigate a new era of technological disruption, we aim to bring those same values to AI.

Mozilla Builders is all about supporting the next wave of AI pioneers - creators building tools that anyone can use to shape AI in ways we can all trust. This year's accelerator theme was local AI: technology that runs directly on devices like phones or computers, empowering users with transparent systems they control. These specialized models and applications preserve privacy, reduce costs and inspire creative solutions.

As we reflect on this year and look to the future, we're inspired by what these creators are building and the values they bring to their work.

Real-world AI solutions that help everyday people

AI doesn't have to be abstract or overwhelming. The projects we're supporting through Mozilla Builders prove that AI can make life better for all of us in practical and tangible ways. Take Pleias, Ersilia and Sartify, for example.

Pleias, with its latest research assistant Scholastic AI, is making waves with its commitment to open data in France. This mission-driven approach not only aligns with Mozilla's values but also highlights the global impact of responsible AI. At demo day, Pleias announced the release of Pleias 1.0, a groundbreaking suite of models trained entirely on open data - including Pleias-3b, Pleias-1b and Pleias-350m - built on a 2 trillion-token dataset, Common Corpus. Ersilia is another standout, bringing AI models and tools for early state drug discovery to scientific communities studying infectious diseases in the Global South. Sartify has demonstrated the critical importance of compute access for innovators in the Global Majority with PAWA, its Swahili-language assistant built on its own Swahili-langugage models.

These projects show what it looks like when AI is built to help people. And that's what we're all about at Mozilla - creating technology that empowers.

Empowering developers to build tools that inspire and innovate

AI isn't just for end-users - it's for the people building our tech, too. That's why we're excited about projects like Theia IDE, Transformer Lab and Open WebUI.

Theia IDE gives developers full control of their AI copilots, enabling local AI solutions like Mozilla's llamafile version of Starcoder2 to be used for various programming tasks, while Transformer Lab is creating flexible tools for machine learning experimentation. Together, these projects highlight the power of open-source tools to advance the field of computer programming, while also making advanced capabilities more seamlessly integrated into development workflows.

Open WebUI further simplifies the development process for AI applications, demonstrating the immense potential of AI tools driven by community and technical excellence.

The future of AI creativity that bridges art, science and beyond

Some of the projects from this year's cohort are looking even further ahead, exploring how AI can open new doors in data and simulation. Two standouts are Latent Scope and Tolvera. Latent Scope has a unique approach to make unstructured data - like survey responses and customer feedback - more understandable. It offers a fresh perspective on how data can be visualized and used to find hidden insights in information.

Tolvera, on the other hand, is bridging disciplines like art and science to redefine how we think about AI, and even artificial life forms. With this multidisciplinary perspective, the creator behind Tolvera has developed visually stunning simulations that explore alternative models of intelligence - a key area for next-generation AI. Based in Iceland, Tolvera's brings a global perspective that highlights the intersectional vision of Mozilla Builders.

We also created a zine called What We Make It," which captures this pivotal moment in computing history. Taking inspiration from seminal works like Ted Nelsons Computer Lib / Dream Machines," it weaves together analysis, philosophical reflection, and original artwork to explore fundamental questions about the purpose of technology and the diverse community of creators shaping its future.

Mozilla Builders' role in open-source AI innovation starts with community

One of the things that makes Mozilla special is our community-centered approach to AI. This year, collaborations like Llamafile and Mozilla Ventures companies Plastic Labs and Themis AI also joined the accelerator cohort members at demo day, showcasing the broad range of perspectives across Mozilla's investments in open, local AI. Transformer Lab's integration with the new Llamafile API highlights how these tools complement one another to create something even greater. Llamafile runs on devices of all sizes and costs, as demonstrated at the demo day science fair. Attendees loved playing with our open-source AI technology on an Apple II.

Mozilla Builders demo day, December 5, 2024 in San Francisco
Mozilla Builders demo day, December 5, 2024 in San Francisco
Mozilla Builders demo day, December 5, 2024 in San Francisco

And let's not forget the Mozilla AI Discord community, which has become a place for thousands of developers and technologists working with open-source AI. This year, we hosted over 30 online events on the Mozilla AI stage, attracting around 400 live attendees. What started as an online hub for creators to share ideas evolved into an in-person forum connection at demo day. Seeing those relationships come to life was a highlight of the year and a reminder of what's possible when we work together.

Follow the Mozilla Builders leading the way in AI

We're thrilled to introduce the new Builders brand and website. We deeply believe that the new brand not only communicates what we build but also shapes how we build and who builds with us. We hope you find it similarly inspiring! On the site, you'll find technical analyses, perspective pieces, and walkthroughs, with much more to come in the next month.

Mozilla has a long history of empowering individuals and communities through open technology. The projects from this year's cohort - and the vision driving them - stand as a testament to what's possible when community, responsibility and innovation intersect. Together, we're shaping an AI future that empowers everyone, and we can't wait to see what's next in 2025 and beyond.

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