Hugging Face, the AI startup known for its open-source AI and collaboration platform, has recently secured a massive $235 million in a funding round led by major tech giants Salesforce, Google, and Amazon. The funding round also included participation from Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, and Sound Ventures. This significant injection of capital has boosted Hugging Face’s valuation to an impressive $4 billion.
According to Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue, the funds will primarily be used to expand the company’s team, which currently consists of 170 members, as well as invest in building their open-source AI and collaboration platform further. Since its inception in 2016, Hugging Face had already raised a total of $160 million, with its last funding round, a $100 million series C, announced just last year.
Delangue expressed his excitement about the wide range of major cloud and hardware companies that participated in this funding round, citing it as a testament to the broad support for open-source AI and Hugging Face’s central role in the AI community. Hugging Face now boasts over a million repositories, including 500,000 models, 250,000 datasets, and 250,000 spaces, signifying its growing influence in the field.
An interesting aspect of this funding round is that it comes without any strings attached or commitments required from the investors, as emphasized by Delangue. He sees this as a significant factor as it enables Hugging Face to retain its independence and pursue its open-source AI initiatives freely.
Salesforce’s involvement in this funding round is noteworthy, considering its increasing focus on open-source AI in recent months. The company has been intensifying its AI efforts and aims to be more AI-focused, particularly for its enterprise customers who prioritize AI solutions. This aligns with Salesforce’s broader AI agenda, as it has been actively investing in AI startups and developing its own AI engine, Einstein, to provide predictive insights on its platform.
Hugging Face’s partnership with large enterprise vendors like IBM and ServiceNow has also contributed significantly to its growth. For instance, IBM is working with Hugging Face to bring open AI models to its enterprise users, while ServiceNow is collaborating on the development of a generative AI coding tool called StarCoder. These partnerships further solidify Hugging Face’s position in the AI landscape.
The growing interest from major enterprise vendors in AI startups reflects the increasing demand for AI solutions across industries. The support and investments from companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and others in this space are crucial for the growth and sustainability of AI startups. The future seems promising for Hugging Face as it continues to expand its platform and make advancements in the field of open-source AI.
