diff --git a/torchtrain/meta_init.py b/torchtrain/meta_init.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d67e6ef7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/torchtrain/meta_init.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+# This software may be used and distributed according to the terms of the Llama 2 Community License Agreement.
+
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+
+import torch
+from torch import nn
+from torch.distributed.fsdp._common_utils import _is_fsdp_flattened
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def meta_model_init():
+    """init model on meta device"""
+    saved_register_parameter = nn.Module.register_parameter
+    saved_register_buffer = nn.Module.register_buffer
+
+    def register_meta_param(module, name, param):
+        saved_register_parameter(module, name, param)
+        if param is not None:
+            param_cls = type(module._parameters[name])
+            kwargs = module._parameters[name].__dict__
+            module._parameters[name] = param_cls(
+                module._parameters[name].to(torch.device("meta")), **kwargs
+            )
+
+    def register_meta_buffer(module, name, buffer):
+        saved_register_buffer(module, name, buffer)
+        if buffer is not None:
+            module._buffers[name] = module._buffers[name].to(torch.device("meta"))
+
+    try:
+        nn.Module.register_parameter = register_meta_param
+        nn.Module.register_buffer = register_meta_buffer
+        yield
+    finally:
+        nn.Module.register_parameter = saved_register_parameter
+        nn.Module.register_buffer = saved_register_buffer
+
+
+@torch.no_grad()
+def meta_to_real_init_fn(module: nn.Module):
+    for submodule in module.modules():
+        for param_name, param in submodule.named_parameters(recurse=False):
+            if not _is_fsdp_flattened(param) and param.is_meta:
+                materialized_param = nn.Parameter(
+                    torch.randn_like(param, device=torch.device("cuda"))
+                )
+                setattr(submodule, param_name, materialized_param)
diff --git a/torchtrain/metrics.py b/torchtrain/metrics.py
index d56d80a3..91a1e184 100644
--- a/torchtrain/metrics.py
+++ b/torchtrain/metrics.py
@@ -193,8 +193,8 @@ def get_num_params(model: nn.Module, only_trainable: bool = False) -> int:
     param_list = list(model.parameters())
     if only_trainable:
         param_list = [p for p in param_list if p.requires_grad]
-    unique_params = {p.data_ptr(): p for p in param_list}.values()
-    return sum(p.numel() for p in unique_params)
+    # unique_params = {p.data_ptr(): p for p in param_list}.values()
+    return sum(p.numel() for p in param_list)
 
 
 class MetricLogger:
diff --git a/torchtrain/models/llama/__init__.py b/torchtrain/models/llama/__init__.py
index c1f87f89..e6175ca9 100644
--- a/torchtrain/models/llama/__init__.py
+++ b/torchtrain/models/llama/__init__.py
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@
 
 llama_configs = {
     "debugmodel": ModelArgs(dim=256, n_layers=2, n_heads=16),
-    "1B": ModelArgs(dim=1024, n_layers=16, n_heads=8),
+    "271M": ModelArgs(dim=1024, n_layers=16, n_heads=8),
+    "1B": ModelArgs(dim=2048, n_layers=18, n_heads=16),
     "7B": ModelArgs(dim=4096, n_layers=32, n_heads=32),
     "13B": ModelArgs(dim=5120, n_layers=40, n_heads=40),
-    "40B": ModelArgs(dim=5120, n_layers=80, n_heads=40),
+    "26B": ModelArgs(dim=5120, n_layers=80, n_heads=40),
     "70B": ModelArgs(
         dim=8192,
         n_layers=80,
diff --git a/torchtrain/models/llama/model.py b/torchtrain/models/llama/model.py
index 2cd81a6c..1ba505cf 100644
--- a/torchtrain/models/llama/model.py
+++ b/torchtrain/models/llama/model.py
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ def __init__(self, dim: int, eps: float = 1e-6):
         super().__init__()
         self.eps = eps
         self.weight = nn.Parameter(torch.empty(dim))
-        self.reset_parameters()
+
+        # re-enable if not using meta-init
+        # self.reset_parameters()
 
     def _norm(self, x: torch.Tensor):
         """
@@ -466,7 +468,14 @@ def __init__(self, model_args: ModelArgs):
         self.output = nn.Linear(model_args.dim, model_args.vocab_size, bias=False)
 
         # init model weights
-        self.reset_parameters()
+
+        # we are doing meta_init, which will call reset_parameters() after
+        # the model is moved to actual device.
+        # If you modify and are not using meta_init, you will need to call
+        # reset_parameters() manually as below:
+
+        # self.reset_parameters()
+
         rank0_log(f"Model built with: {self.model_args}")
 
     def reset_parameters(
diff --git a/torchtrain/parallelisms/parallelize_llama.py b/torchtrain/parallelisms/parallelize_llama.py
index 698079a6..d11fac9f 100644
--- a/torchtrain/parallelisms/parallelize_llama.py
+++ b/torchtrain/parallelisms/parallelize_llama.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 )
 from torchtrain.config_manager import JobConfig
 from torchtrain.logging_utils import rank0_log
+from torchtrain.meta_init import meta_to_real_init_fn
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -193,6 +194,7 @@ def parallelize_llama(model, world_mesh, parallel_dims, job_config: JobConfig):
     if parallel_dims.dp_enabled:
         dp_mesh = world_mesh["dp"] if world_mesh.ndim > 1 else world_mesh
         assert dp_mesh.mesh_dim_names == ("dp",), dp_mesh.mesh_dim_names
+
         fsdp_config = {
             "mixed_precision": MixedPrecision(
                 param_dtype=torch.bfloat16,
@@ -204,12 +206,11 @@ def parallelize_llama(model, world_mesh, parallel_dims, job_config: JobConfig):
             # When torch.compile is active, it requires us to set use_orig_params=True
             "use_orig_params": True,
             "device_mesh": dp_mesh,
+            "param_init_fn": meta_to_real_init_fn,
         }
 
         with enable_wrap(wrapper_cls=FSDP, **fsdp_config):
             for layer_id, transformer_block in enumerate(model.layers):
-                # before wrapping with FSDP, we need to make sure the layer is on GPU
-                transformer_block = transformer_block.cuda()
 
                 # apply selective AC
                 transformer_block = checkpoint_wrapper(
@@ -220,10 +221,13 @@ def parallelize_llama(model, world_mesh, parallel_dims, job_config: JobConfig):
                 model.layers[layer_id] = wrap(transformer_block)
 
             # wrap the rest layers with FSDP
-            model = wrap(model.cuda())
+            model = wrap(model)
 
         rank0_log("Applied FSDP to the model...")
+    else:
+        model.cuda()
 
-    # redundant if FSDP is enabled, but ensure the model is on device regardless of which parallelisms were used
-    model.cuda()
+    # we have now moved from meta to device,
+    # reset parameters for proper initialization
+    model.reset_parameters()
     return model
diff --git a/train.py b/train.py
index 3d4c3ae2..9c8e2f7b 100644
--- a/train.py
+++ b/train.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from torchtrain.datasets import create_tokenizer, dataloader_fn
 from torchtrain.logging_utils import init_logger, rank0_log
 from torchtrain.lr_scheduling import get_lr_scheduler
+from torchtrain.meta_init import meta_model_init
 from torchtrain.metrics import build_metric_logger, get_num_params, GPUMemoryMonitor
 
 from torchtrain.models import model_name_to_cls, model_name_to_tokenizer, models_config
@@ -115,15 +116,17 @@ def main(job_config: JobConfig):
     )
 
     # build model
-    # TODO: add meta initialization
     model_cls = model_name_to_cls[model_name]
     model_config = models_config[model_name][job_config.model.flavor]
     model_config.vocab_size = tokenizer.n_words
 
-    model = model_cls.from_model_args(model_config)
+    # build model using meta init
+    with meta_model_init():
+        model = model_cls.from_model_args(model_config)
 
     # log model size
     model_param_count = get_num_params(model)
+
     if _is_local_logging:
         rank0_log(
             f"{Color.blue}Model {model_name} {job_config.model.flavor} {Color.red}size: {model_param_count:,}"