Hugging Face Launches New Open-Source AI Software

By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) – Hugging Face announced the release of a new open-source software product in collaboration with Amazon.com, Google, and others, focused on reducing costs for creating chatbots and AI systems.

New York-based Hugging Face has emerged as a key hub for AI developers, boasting a valuation of $4.5 billion. It is a primary distribution channel for open-source AI technologies, including Meta Platforms' Llama.

However, converting open-source AI models into functional chatbots on Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices chips requires considerable effort. To simplify this, Hugging Face introduced a paid offering called HUGS (Hugging Face for Generative AI Services) that automates much of the necessary work.

The product will be available through Amazon and Google's cloud services at a cost of $1 per hour and can also be downloaded for use in companies' own data centers via Digital Ocean.

This new offering will compete with commercial services from firms like OpenAI and Anthropic AI (backed by Google).

Jeff Boudier, Hugging Face's head of product and growth, stated that the offering is designed to enable companies to manage AI development costs while ensuring data privacy, crucial for sectors like finance and healthcare with stringent data regulations.

Boudier highlighted, "We're in an era where companies typically outsource their AI technology to third-party systems. We aim to empower them to build and control their own technology using the best available open models."