Public AI models via your Inference Providers MCP --
Greetings Ben! I am a LEARNER *just trying to figure out things
trying to use MCP server with publicai inference provider but cannot find it on your list
may i request it to be added?
I came across your Inference Providers MCP server and your blog post on combining remote reasoning with local models -- really elegant work. I'm particularly interested in using it with Public AI as the inference provider.
Public AI seems like a natural fit for your MCP for a few reasons:
- It's the only nonprofit inference provider on HF, aligned with the open/public AI mission
- It currently serves 7 models including sovereign AI from Switzerland (Apertus 8B/70B), Singapore (SEA-LION), Israel (DictaLM), and the US (OLMo, Molmo) -- models you won't find on commercial providers
- It's free at 20 requests/minute, lowering the barrier for researchers and developers
- The models span text generation AND vision (Molmo2-8B), so the MCP could demonstrate multimodal cross-provider workflows
- It runs on vLLM with OpenAI-compatible APIs, so integration should be straightforward
Public AI -- what it is:
A nonprofit, open-source inference utility that positions itself as "a BBC for AI" -- public infrastructure like highways or libraries. They provide free inference for models built by national AI initiatives, running on donated compute from national and industry partners using vLLM backends.
The 7 models currently on Public AI:
ModelOriginTypeSizeSwiss AI Apertus 70B InstructSwitzerland (EPFL/ETH)Text gen70BSwiss AI Apertus 8B InstructSwitzerland (EPFL/ETH)Text gen8BAI Singapore SEA-LION v4 32BSingaporeText gen33BAI Singapore Gemma-SEA-LION 27BSingaporeText gen27BAllen AI OLMo 3.1 32BUS (nonprofit)Text gen32BAllen AI Molmo2-8BUS (nonprofit)Vision+text8BDicta-IL DictaLM 3.0 24BIsraelText gen (reasoning)24B
Why it matters for burtenshaw's MCP:
His Inference Providers MCP already supports HF inference providers generically, and publicai is a valid provider string. But he hasn't explicitly featured or tested it. Public AI gives him sovereign/national models that no other provider offers -- a unique selling point for his MCP docs and Hugging Science initiative.
Pricing: Completely free, 20 requests/minute, no credit card needed. Platform API key at platform.publicai.co or route through HF token.