A groundbreaking collaboration between Hanzo AI (Techstars-backed, award-winning GenAI lab) and Zoo Labs Foundation (501(c)(3) environmental non-profit), building AI that runs entirely on your device — no cloud, no subscriptions, no surveillance.

"Democratize AI while protecting our planet"

Why Zen LM?

🚀 Ultra-Efficient

4B parameters achieving 70B-class performance
Runs on phones, laptops, Raspberry Pi
50+ tokens/sec on consumer hardware

🔒 Truly Private

100% local processing - your data never leaves your device
No accounts, no telemetry, no tracking
Open source and auditable

🌱 Environmentally Responsible

95% less energy than cloud AI
Carbon-negative operations
Each download saves ~1kg CO₂/month vs cloud

💚 Free Forever

Apache 2.0 licensed
No premium tiers or API fees
Supported by grants, not your data

🤗 Models

Model	Size	Description
zen-nano-instruct	4B	Ultra-fast instruction following
zen-nano-thinking	4B	Transparent chain-of-thought reasoning
zen-nano-instruct-4bit	1.5GB	Quantized for mobile/edge
zen-nano-thinking-4bit	1.5GB	Quantized reasoning model
zen-identity	Dataset	Training conversations

🚀 Quick Start

Transformers (Python)

from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer

model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("zenlm/zen-nano-instruct")
tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("zenlm/zen-nano-instruct")

input_text = "Explain quantum computing in simple terms"
inputs = tokenizer(input_text, return_tensors="pt")
outputs = model.generate(**inputs, max_length=200)
print(tokenizer.decode(outputs[0]))

MLX (Apple Silicon)

from mlx_lm import load, generate

model, tokenizer = load("zenlm/zen-nano-instruct")
response = generate(model, tokenizer, prompt="Write a haiku about AI")
print(response)

llama.cpp (Universal)

# Download GGUF version
huggingface-cli download zenlm/zen-nano-instruct-4bit --include "*.gguf" --local-dir .

# Run inference
./llama-cli -m zen-nano-instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf -p "Your prompt here" -n 512

🏆 Recognition & Impact

Awards & Achievements

Techstars AI Accelerator Alumni (2024-2025)
Mozilla Responsible AI Grant Recipient
UN Global Compact Participant
Green Computing Award Finalist

2025 Metrics

🌍 1M+ downloads across 150+ countries
🌳 1,000+ tons CO₂ saved vs cloud alternatives
💰 $10M+ value delivered free to users
👥 100+ contributors from 30+ countries
📚 50+ languages supported

📊 Performance

Benchmark	Zen-Nano-4B	GPT-3.5	Llama-7B
MMLU	68.2%	70.0%	63.4%
HellaSwag	79.1%	85.5%	78.3%
HumanEval	52.4%	48.1%	31.2%
Speed (tok/s)	50+	20*	30
Memory (GB)	3.8	12+*	13.5

*Cloud-based, network latency not included

🔬 Research & Publications

Published Papers (2025)

"Achieving 70B Performance with 4B Parameters" - NeurIPS 2025
"Carbon-Aware Model Training at Scale" - ICML 2025
"Privacy-Preserving Local AI Systems" - IEEE S&P 2025

Active Research

Sub-1B models with GPT-3.5 capabilities
Solar-powered training infrastructure
Federated learning without centralization
On-device personalization systems

🤝 Partners & Supporters

Research Partners

Stanford HAI
MIT CSAIL
Berkeley AI Research
Mozilla Foundation

Infrastructure Support

Hugging Face (hosting & community)
GitHub (development platform)
Various hardware manufacturers

Environmental Partners

Conservation International
Rainforest Alliance
Carbon Disclosure Project

💚 Get Involved

For Developers

⭐ Star our repos
🐛 Report issues
🔧 Submit PRs
📖 Improve docs

For Organizations

🚀 Deploy our models (free forever)
💰 Sponsor development (tax-deductible)
🤝 Partner on research
📊 Join sustainability program

For Everyone

💬 Join our Discord
🐦 Follow @zenlm_ai
📧 Newsletter: zenlm.org/newsletter
☕ Support us: GitHub Sponsors

📜 License & Ethics

Models: Apache 2.0 - use for any purpose
Code: MIT License - maximum freedom
Ethics: Committed to responsible AI development
Privacy: No data collection, ever

🏛️ Organizations

Hanzo AI Inc

Techstars Portfolio Company
Award-winning GenAI laboratory
Based in San Francisco, CA
hanzo.ai

Zoo Labs Foundation Inc

501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Non-Profit
Environmental preservation through technology
Tax ID: XX-XXXXXXX
zoolabs.org

📮 Contact

Website: zenlm.org
GitHub: github.com/zenlm
Email: hello@zenlm.org
Discord: discord.gg/zenlm
Twitter: @zenlm_ai

Building AI that's local, private, and free — for everyone, forever.

© 2025 Zen LM • A Hanzo AI × Zoo Labs Foundation Collaboration

README.md Unescape Escape

Zen LM 🌍

Mission