Top Generative AI Inference Platforms for Open Large Language Models

Open large language models (LLMs) are gaining popularity as a cost-effective alternative to commercial LLMs like GPT-4 and Gemini. With the rising cost of AI accelerator hardware, developers are turning to APIs to access state-of-the-art language models. While cloud platforms like Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Cloud Vertex AI are popular choices, there are purpose-built platforms that offer faster and cheaper alternatives.

Here are five generative AI inference platforms that allow developers to consume open LLMs like Llama 3, Mistral, and Gemma:

1. Groq: Groq is known for its AI infrastructure, offering the Language Processing Units (LPU) Inference Engine that promises exceptional compute speed, quality, and energy efficiency for AI applications. The GroqCloud service allows users to access open source LLMs like Meta AI’s Llama 3 70B at speeds claimed to be up to 18x faster than other providers. Pricing for Groq’s cloud service is based on tokens processed, with a range of options available.

2. Perplexity Labs: Perplexity Labs offers the pplx-api, an API designed to provide efficient access to open source LLMs. The API supports popular models like Mistral 7B, Llama 13B, and Code Llama 34B, with a flexible pricing model based on the number of tokens processed.

3. Fireworks AI: Fireworks AI provides a range of language models, including FireLLaVA-13B and Mixtral MoE models, as well as image-generation models. The platform offers a pay-as-you-go pricing structure based on the number of tokens processed, with different tiers available for developers, businesses, and enterprises.

4. Cloudflare: Cloudflare AI Workers is a serverless platform that allows developers to run machine learning models on Cloudflare’s global network. The platform supports a curated set of popular open source models and offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model based on the number of neurons processed.

5. Nvidia NIM: Nvidia NIM API provides access to pretrained LLMs and other AI models optimized by Nvidia’s software stack. The API allows developers to easily integrate these models into their applications and offers both free and paid tiers based on the number of tokens processed.

These platforms offer developers a range of options for consuming open LLMs and building advanced AI applications. Stay tuned for more updates on self-hosted model servers and inference engines in an upcoming article.