Hugging Face, the New York-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, has recently secured an impressive $235 million in a Series D funding round. The funding round attracted the attention of major tech giants, including IBM, Amazon, Google, Qualcomm Ventures, and Intel. This significant investment has propelled the value of Hugging Face to an impressive $4.5 billion.
The additional funding will further solidify Hugging Face’s position as the leading open-source and open science AI platform. This is undoubtedly an exciting time for the company, as it celebrates crossing the milestone of 1 million models, datasets, and apps on its platform.
Clem Delangue, CEO and co-founder of Hugging Face, expressed his enthusiasm in a LinkedIn post, where he welcomed the new investors and celebrated the achievement. Delangue shared, Super excited to welcome our new investors Salesforce Ventures, Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel Corporation, Qualcomm Ventures, IBM & Sound Ventures, who all participated in Hugging Face’s $235M series D at a $4.5B valuation to celebrate the crossing of 1,000,000 models, datasets, and apps on the platform.
One of the key differentiators for Hugging Face compared to its competitors in the AI space is its collaborative approach to building AI. While many companies keep their AI models under lock and key and charge customers for access, Hugging Face has chosen a different path. The company provides a platform where developers can freely share code, models, and datasets. This not only promotes collaboration but also fosters a sense of community among developers.
Hugging Face’s user-friendly website allows individuals to upload models and weights. Additionally, the company develops software tools, known as libraries, that assist developers in implementing models, cleaning datasets, and evaluating performance. By offering these resources, Hugging Face empowers developers to make the most of their AI endeavors.
This recent funding round has undoubtedly boosted Hugging Face’s profile and will enable the company to continue making strides in the AI industry. With the support of tech giants and a robust open-source platform, Hugging Face is well-positioned to drive innovation and democratize machine learning.
As Hugging Face continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how their collaborative approach and commitment to open-source principles shape the future of AI development. With their impressive valuation and strong industry backing, the company is poised for continued success in the ever-expanding field of artificial intelligence.