As AI-ready data centers are projected to comprise 70% of total capacity by 2030, the demand for efficient, scalable, and hardware-agnostic AI deployment solutions has never been greater. Enter TheStage AI, a startup founded by former Huawei engineers and PhDs in mathematics and neuroscience, aiming to transform the landscape of deep learning deployment.
Introducing the QLIP Framework
At the core of TheStage AI’s innovation is the QLIP Framework—a comprehensive toolkit designed to compress, fine-tune, and deploy AI models across diverse hardware platforms with ease. QLIP comprises four key components:
- Qlip.Train: Offers customizable fine-tuning strategies adaptable to various models and datasets.
- Qlip.Compress: Provides an SDK with quantization and pruning algorithms optimized for existing hardware.
- Qlip.Deploy: Facilitates model building and compilation APIs compatible with a wide range of devices.
- Qlip.Serve: Enables deployment of inference endpoints on the cloud.
This framework allows researchers and developers to achieve significant improvements in model performance and resource efficiency, making it possible to run complex models on resource-constrained devices such as mobile phones and embedded systems.
A Team of Visionaries
TheStage AI’s founding team includes:
- Kirill Solodskikh: CEO, former Huawei acceleration team lead, and PhD in algebraic topology.
- Azim Kurbanov: Chief AI Scientist, with experience at Huawei and Yandex, and a PhD in computer science.
- Ruslan Aydarkhanov: Chief AI Architect, former principal AI researcher at Huawei, and PhD in neuroscience from EPFL.
- Max Petriev: Chief Product Officer, with a background in engineering leadership at VK and Delivery Hero, and a PhD in probability theory.
Their combined expertise has led to the development of algorithms that significantly reduce storage and inference costs by up to 8x through sparse and quantized parameters. 
Strategic Partnerships and Adoption
TheStage AI has garnered support from notable backers, including Mehreen Malik, Dominic Williams, and Atlantic Labs. Its platform has been adopted by companies like Recraft.ai and Praktika.ai, aiding them in scaling their AI solutions more efficiently.
A strategic partnership with Nebius, a cloud provider, has further enhanced TheStage AI’s capabilities. By integrating with Nebius, TheStage AI offers model creators the ability to evaluate cost/quality ratios by uploading original models to Nebius’s infrastructure. After optimization, models can be deployed seamlessly within the same infrastructure, streamlining the deployment process.
Looking Ahead
With its innovative approach to AI model optimization and deployment, TheStage AI is poised to make a significant impact on the AI industry. By simplifying the deployment process and making it more accessible, TheStage AI is enabling businesses and researchers to harness the full potential of AI technologies.
Sources: TheStage AI