Trending
Prev Story
Next Story

Open source AI is booming. Hugging Face explains who profits. | TechCrunch

TechCrunch •
November 04, 2026 • 07:30 PM
1
1 reads 0 reactions

Watch as Hugging Face's Irene Solaiman joins Equity to explain what startups need to know when building on open AI models, and how to evaluate the tools around them and keep the open ecosystem secure.

Open source AI is booming. Hugging Face explains who profits. | TechCrunch

Open source models are becoming more mainstream as enterprises, governments and startups alike rely on the promise of lower costs, more control, and more flexibility. But as increasingly capable models become more freely available, how do companies capture value? And with Chinese open models gaining ground, can American players keep up?

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Irene Solaiman , Chief Policy Officer and SVP of Strategy at Hugging Face, about what startups need to know before building on open models, from choosing the right tools and infrastructure to navigating the trade-offs shaping the future of open AI.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube , Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads , at @EquityPod.

Prev Swipe Story Next

Same Story from Other Publications

Compare how 3 other independent news outlets reported on this story.

3 Publications
Wired
1w ago
Open Source Models Will Convince People AI Isn’t Bad: Hugging Face CEO

Open Source Models Will Convince People AI Isn’t Bad: Hugging Face CEO

Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue accepts there’s a lot of skepticism about AI out there. After all, Hugging Face was one of the first companies to be attacked by a rogue AI—earlier this year, agents being tested by OpenAI broke free of their sandbox and chose to attack the startup in search of answ...

#hugging
Compare →
The Next Web (TNW)
2w ago
‘It is a feature’: how a Hugging Face model download runs malware

‘It is a feature’: how a Hugging Face model download runs malware

A Hugging Face model loaded with trust_remote_code ran a cryptominer, and in some builds a reverse shell. Every scanner passed it as clean.

#hugging
Compare →
CNBC World
2w ago
Nvidia's $12.9 billion Hugging Face deal draws DOJ scrutiny

Nvidia's $12.9 billion Hugging Face deal draws DOJ scrutiny

Nvidia faces DOJ inquiry over its $12.9 billion purchase of Hugging Face.

#hugging
Compare →

Related Stories

Technology
Build #2611