How to Run Local AI Models WITHOUT a GPU (Google Colab, Ollama & xterm)
Want to run powerful local AI models but don't have a massive, expensive GPU? In this video, I’ll show you exactly how to bypass hardware limits and run local LLMs completely for free using Google Colab, xterm, and Ollama!
We'll walk through setting up a Colab notebook, bypassing the standard terminal restrictions using colab-xterm, installing Ollama, and finally downloading and chatting with top-tier models directly in your browser. Whether you are a developer, a student, or just an AI enthusiast, this setup will save your laptop's resources while giving you full access to local AI.
👇 Resources & Links Mentioned in this Video:
Google Colab: https://colab.research.google.com/
Ollama Official Site: https://ollama.com/
Colab-xterm GitHub/Docs: https://github.com/xterm-x11
My Setup Notebook (Copy my code!):
Install and run xterm with following commands:
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!pip install colab-xterm
%load_ext colabxterm
%xterm
In the Terminal Run Following Commands:
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apt install screen
apt install zstd
Inside screen, run following commands:
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curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
ollama serve
Outside screen, on main terminal, run following command:
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this is what i use in the video 👇
ollama pull qwen3.5:0.8b (this is the smallest one not accurate )
if you want better results run this 👇
ollama pull qwen3.5:9b ( recommend model )
⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 - The Problem with Local AI (Hardware Limits)
1:10 - What is Google Colab?
1:37 - Step 1: Setting up the Google Colab Environment
3:25 - Step 2: Installing & Launching colab-xterm
4:01 - Step 3: apt install screen & zstd
5:20 - Step 4: Installing Ollama in the Terminal
6:01 - Step 5: Pulling and Running our First Model (e.g., qwen / Gemma)
6:33 - installing qwen3.5:0.8b
7:39 - testing the model
8:47 - Locally installation video is in description
💻 Connect With Me:
GitHub: https://github.com/chinmayaranjanswain
LinkedIn: / chinmaya-ranjan-swain-0933a2328
Portfolio: https://chinmayaswain.vercel.app/
Tags/Keywords:
#artificialintelligence #ollama #googlecolab #localllm #techtutorial #machinelearning #webdevelopment #codingtutorial #FreeGPU #xterm #llm