#218 Jeff Boudier: The Future of Open Source AI Development (Hugging Face)

This episode is sponsored by Oracle. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI is a blazing fast and secure platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, plus all your AI and machine learning workloads. OCI costs 50% less for compute and 80% less for networking. So you’re saving a pile of money. Thousands of businesses have already upgraded to OCI, including MGM Resorts, Specialized Bikes, and Fireworks AI.   Cut your current cloud bill in HALF if you move to OCI now:  https://oracle.com/eyeonai     In this episode of the Eye on AI podcast, Jeff Boudier, Head of Product and Growth at Hugging Face, joins Craig Smith to uncover how the platform is empowering AI builders and driving the open-source AI revolution.   With a mission to democratize AI, Jeff walks us through Hugging Face's journey from a chatbot for teens to the leading platform hosting over 1 million public AI models, datasets, and applications. We explore how Hugging Face is bridging the gap between enterprises and open-source innovation, enabling developers to build cutting-edge AI solutions with transparency and collaboration.   Jeff dives deep into Hugging Face’s tools and features, from hosting private and public models to fostering a thriving ecosystem of AI builders. He shares insights on the transformative impact of technologies like Transformers, transfer learning, and no-code solutions that make AI accessible to more creators than ever before.   We also discuss Hugging Face’s latest innovation, ‘Hugs,’ designed to help enterprises seamlessly integrate open-source AI within their infrastructure while retaining full control over their data and models.   Tune in to discover how Hugging Face is shaping the future of AI development, why open-source models are catching up with proprietary ones, and what trends are driving innovation across AI disciplines.   Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more!     Stay Updated: Craig Smith Twitter: https://twitter.com/craigss Eye on A.I. Twitter: https://twitter.com/EyeOn_AI     (00:00) Introduction to Jeff Boudier (02:16) How Hugging Face Empowers AI Builders (05:26) Transition from Chatbot to Leading AI Platform (07:07) Hosting AI Models: Public and Private Options (10:13) What Does Hosting Models on Hugging Face Mean? (14:22) Hugging Face vs. GitHub: Key Differences (19:09) Navigating 1 Million Models on the Hugging Face Hub (22:33) Leaderboards and Filtering AI Models (25:26) Building Applications with Hugging Face Models (28:03) AI Innovation: From Code to Model-Driven Development (30:45) Frameworks for Agentic Systems and Hugging Chat (35:20) Open Source vs. Proprietary AI: The Future (40:41) Introducing ‘Hugs’: Open AI for Enterprises (44:59) The Role of No-Code in AI Development (47:26) Hugging Face’s Vision