A GenAI image generation model on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350)

Developer cpldcpu has run a generative AI image model on the $1 Raspberry Pi Pico 2's RP2350 microcontroller, generating 128×128 RGB face images in 5–20 seconds each and displaying them on VGA, demonstrating that GenAI can operate on ultra-low-cost hardware.

Generative AI usually conjures images of data centers full of GPUs, but developer cpldcpu has squeezed an image generation model onto a $1 microcontroller. The pico-faces project runs on the RP2350 found in the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, generating 128×128 RGB images of human faces in 5 to 20 seconds each, then displaying them on a VGA …