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| 1 | +# GPU Compute Hosting Options for OpenAdapt.ai |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +**Context**: Fine-tuning Qwen3-VL (2B-8B), MIT-licensed open source project, no budget. |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +**Hardware requirements**: |
| 6 | +- Qwen3-VL 2B with QLoRA: ~8-10 GB VRAM (fits on T4 16GB) |
| 7 | +- Qwen3-VL 8B with QLoRA: ~16-24 GB VRAM (needs A10/A100/L4) |
| 8 | +- Unsloth reduces VRAM by ~60% and speeds training 1.7x |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +--- |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +## TIER 1: Apply Immediately (Highest Value) |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +### 1. AWS Cloud Credits for Open Source |
| 15 | +- **Status**: ACTIVE (running since 2019, reaffirmed April 2025) |
| 16 | +- **Credits**: Varies per project; AWS has given millions across 200+ OSS projects |
| 17 | +- **GPUs**: Full AWS fleet (P4d/P5 with A100/H100, G5 with A10G, G6 with L4) |
| 18 | +- **Eligibility**: OSI-approved license (MIT qualifies), active AWS account, valid payment method |
| 19 | +- **Strings attached**: Credits for project infrastructure, not personal use |
| 20 | +- **How to apply**: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/aws-promotional-credits-open-source-projects/ |
| 21 | +- **Why #1**: Most directly relevant. MIT-licensed, established on GitHub — this program was designed for projects like OpenAdapt. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +### 2. Google TPU Research Cloud (TRC) |
| 24 | +- **Status**: ACTIVE (rolling admissions) |
| 25 | +- **Credits**: Free access to 1,000+ Cloud TPU devices |
| 26 | +- **Hardware**: Cloud TPUs (v2, v3, v4) — not GPUs, but excellent for VLM training via JAX/PyTorch XLA |
| 27 | +- **Eligibility**: Anyone can apply; no academic affiliation required |
| 28 | +- **Strings attached**: Must share research publicly (blog posts, open-source code, or papers) |
| 29 | +- **How to apply**: https://sites.research.google/trc/ |
| 30 | +- **Why #2**: Completely free, rolling admissions. Sharing publicly is already met by MIT license. |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +### 3. NVIDIA Inception Program (Unlocks Multi-Platform Credits) |
| 33 | +- **Status**: ACTIVE, free to join |
| 34 | +- **Direct benefits**: Free DLI training credits, SDK access, preferred hardware pricing |
| 35 | +- **Indirect benefits**: |
| 36 | + - AWS Activate credits: $25,000-$100,000 |
| 37 | + - Nebius AI Lift: up to $150,000 in cloud credits |
| 38 | + - DGX Cloud Innovation Lab: 2 months of DGX Cloud access (select members) |
| 39 | +- **Eligibility**: At least one developer, working website, officially incorporated, <10 years old |
| 40 | +- **Strings attached**: No equity required |
| 41 | +- **How to apply**: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/startups/ |
| 42 | +- **Why #3**: Force multiplier. Free to join, unlocks $25K-$150K across partners. |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +### 4. Microsoft for Startups (Azure Credits) |
| 45 | +- **Status**: ACTIVE (restructured July 2025) |
| 46 | +- **Credits**: $1,000 immediately (no application), up to $5,000 with business verification, up to $150,000 for investor-backed startups |
| 47 | +- **GPUs**: Azure NC/ND series (A100, H100, V100, T4) |
| 48 | +- **Eligibility**: No funding required for $5K tier |
| 49 | +- **Strings attached**: Credits expire (90-180 days) |
| 50 | +- **How to apply**: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups (self-service sign-up) |
| 51 | +- **Why #4**: $1K-$5K with no funding needed. Quick to get started. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +--- |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +## TIER 2: Strong Options (Apply Soon) |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +### 5. Google for Startups Cloud Program |
| 58 | +- **Credits**: $2,000 (pre-funding), up to $100,000 (VC-backed), up to $350,000 (AI-first track) |
| 59 | +- **GPUs**: Full GCP fleet (A100, H100, L4, T4, TPU) |
| 60 | +- **Eligibility**: Start tier requires no funding |
| 61 | +- **How to apply**: https://startup.google.com/cloud/ |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +### 6. Lambda Labs Research Grant |
| 64 | +- **Credits**: Up to $5,000 in Cloud Credits plus mentoring |
| 65 | +- **GPUs**: Lambda Cloud fleet (A100, H100, A6000) |
| 66 | +- **Eligibility**: Academic researchers or published research projects; 50% academic discount also available |
| 67 | +- **How to apply**: https://lambda.ai/research |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +### 7. fal.ai Research Grants |
| 70 | +- **Credits**: Free compute (amount per project) |
| 71 | +- **Eligibility**: Open to anyone — no formal degree required |
| 72 | +- **How to apply**: Email grants@fal.ai with project description. See https://fal.ai/grants |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +### 8. AMD AI Developer Program & Developer Cloud |
| 75 | +- **Credits**: $100 free (~50 hours) to start; additional credits for public projects |
| 76 | +- **GPUs**: AMD Instinct MI300X (192GB VRAM) |
| 77 | +- **Note**: Check ROCm compatibility with your training stack |
| 78 | +- **How to apply**: https://www.amd.com/en/developer/resources/cloud-access/amd-developer-cloud.html |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +### 9. a16z Open Source AI Grants |
| 81 | +- **Type**: Cash grants (not investment, not equity) |
| 82 | +- **Eligibility**: Open-source AI developers, hackers, researchers, small teams |
| 83 | +- **How to apply**: Watch https://a16z.com/supporting-the-open-source-ai-community/ for batch announcements |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +--- |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +## TIER 3: Free Platforms (Use Today, No Application) |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +| Platform | GPU | Free Limits | Best For | |
| 90 | +|----------|-----|-------------|----------| |
| 91 | +| [Kaggle](https://kaggle.com) | T4/P100 | 30 hrs/week, background exec | **Training Qwen3-VL 2B now** | |
| 92 | +| [Google Colab](https://colab.research.google.com) | T4 | 15-30 hrs/week | Backup training | |
| 93 | +| [Lightning.ai](https://lightning.ai) | T4 | 22 hrs/month | Development | |
| 94 | +| [SageMaker Studio Lab](https://studiolab.sagemaker.aws) | T4 | 4hr sessions, 8hr/day, no credit card | Experimentation | |
| 95 | +| [Modal](https://modal.com) | A100/H100 | $30/month credit (~2hr A100) | Burst training | |
| 96 | +| [Paperspace Gradient](https://paperspace.com/gradient/free-gpu) | M4000 (8GB) | 6hr sessions, restartable | Too small for VLM training | |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +--- |
| 99 | + |
| 100 | +## TIER 4: Research/Academic Programs |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +| Program | Credits | Eligibility | |
| 103 | +|---------|---------|-------------| |
| 104 | +| [NSF ACCESS](https://access-ci.org) | Large GPU allocations (thousands of hours) | US institution PI | |
| 105 | +| [Amazon Research Awards](https://amazon.science/research-awards) | $70K funds + $50K AWS credits | Academic institutions | |
| 106 | +| [NVIDIA Academic Hardware Grant](https://academicgrants.nvidia.com/academicgrantprogram/s/Application) | Physical GPU hardware | Faculty at PhD-granting institutions | |
| 107 | +| [HOSTKEY GPU Grant](https://hostkey.com/about-us/grants-for-scientific-projects-and-startups/) | Free GPU server time | Research/startup proposals (monthly windows) | |
| 108 | + |
| 109 | +--- |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +## TIER 5: Inference Hosting (Post-Training) |
| 112 | + |
| 113 | +| Platform | Free Tier | Notes | |
| 114 | +|----------|-----------|-------| |
| 115 | +| [HuggingFace ZeroGPU](https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-zerogpu) | H200 inference, daily quota | Best free option for deploying fine-tuned model | |
| 116 | +| [Replicate](https://replicate.com) | Limited free runs | Deploying custom models as APIs | |
| 117 | +| [Fireworks AI](https://fireworks.ai) | 10 RPM free, $1 credit | Supports Qwen models | |
| 118 | +| [Together AI](https://together.ai) | No free tier ($5 min) | Startup accelerator offers up to $50K | |
| 119 | + |
| 120 | +--- |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | +## Recommended Action Plan |
| 123 | + |
| 124 | +| Phase | Action | Expected Value | Timeline | |
| 125 | +|-------|--------|---------------|----------| |
| 126 | +| **Today** | Sign up Microsoft for Startups | $1K-$5K Azure | Same day | |
| 127 | +| **Today** | Start training on Kaggle | 30 hrs/week free T4 | Immediate | |
| 128 | +| **This week** | Apply AWS OSS Credits | $5K-$50K+ | 2-4 weeks | |
| 129 | +| **This week** | Apply Google TRC | Free TPU access | 1-2 weeks | |
| 130 | +| **This week** | Email fal.ai (grants@fal.ai) | Free compute | 1-2 weeks | |
| 131 | +| **This month** | Join NVIDIA Inception | Unlocks $25K-$150K partner credits | 2-4 weeks | |
| 132 | +| **This month** | Apply Google for Startups | $2K-$350K | 1-2 weeks | |
| 133 | +| **This month** | Apply Lambda Research Grant | $5K | 2-4 weeks | |
| 134 | +| **Post-training** | Deploy on HuggingFace ZeroGPU | Free H200 inference | When model ready | |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +--- |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | +*Research conducted February 2026. Verify program availability before applying.* |
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