An $8 ESP32-S3 now runs a 28.9M-parameter LLM fully offline
nikola_mr64990 · x · 2026-07-29
- A developer fit a 28.9M-parameter LLM onto a regular ESP32-S3 for about $8, running fully offline and drawing roughly the power of a single LED.
- The chip’s constraint was memory: 512 KB fast SRAM and 16 MB flash. The key trick was moving the large embedding table into flash and memory-mapping it.
- Only about 450 bytes per token stay active, so the working set fits in fast SRAM.
- The demo already powers a minimalist voice-controlled remote over Bluetooth LE, showing how far tiny local AI hardware can go.
Related event: 8-Dollar ESP32-S3 Microcontroller Runs 28.9M-Parameter LLM(3 posts)→
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