Facebook parent company Meta recently introduced Llama 3.1, the largest open-source model in the world with 405 billion parameters. The size of the model is so massive that even established model libraries like Hugging Face are having to upscale their systems to handle it and other models, which are continuing to grow in size. In response to this, Hugging Face has acquired XetHub, a collaboration platform designed to assist developers in working with and building large-scale models.
CEO of Hugging Face, Clem Delangue, stated in an interview that big models are a permanent fixture in the AI landscape and the company’s goal is to streamline AI development to be more akin to software engineering, making the process significantly faster. While the financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, Delangue mentioned that it was the largest acquisition made by the 8-year-old company, surpassing their previous $10 million acquisition of a dataset startup in June.
XetHub, based in Seattle, is a platform that enables developers to collaborate on software projects utilizing large models and datasets. The platform facilitates quick iterations when working with massive amounts of data, allowing users to proof their work without having to constantly upload or download extensive data. The team behind XetHub includes members who previously worked at Apple, and its CEO, Yucheng Low, is focused on helping Hugging Face become more efficient with larger datasets, increasing storage capacity, and expanding its user base.
The XetHub platform will be integrated into Hugging Face’s existing platform, which will enable the company to host hundreds of millions of AI models and datasets within the next five years. This will be a significant increase from the 2.5 million models and datasets currently managed by Hugging Face. The acquisition of XetHub is part of a broader trend of consolidation within the AI sector, with other high-profile AI companies like Character AI striking licensing deals with tech giants like Google in recent months.
Delangue has emphasized the importance of independent players in the AI industry to keep big tech companies in check. He believes that acquisitions like XetHub will allow for better collaboration on advanced open-source models, enabling individual developers and researchers to build models that rival those of industry giants like OpenAI and Google. Despite the challenges faced by other AI unicorns, Hugging Face has managed to remain profitable through its small team and success with paid enterprise tools.
As the AI market continues to mature, Delangue sees the XetHub acquisition as a strategic move to position Hugging Face as a key player in the development of large-scale AI models. By integrating XetHub’s collaboration platform into their own offerings, Hugging Face aims to democratize access to advanced AI technologies and foster innovation within the industry. The acquisition represents a significant step towards achieving the company’s vision of making AI development more efficient, scalable, and accessible to a wider audience.
