Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue argues that the greatest dangers from advanced AI are likely to come from a small number of companies developing powerful systems in secret, not from open models. He sees open access as a way for a wider community to identify and reduce risks, and to prevent AI capabilities from being controlled by a handful of firms. Delangue puts the chance of AI causing human extinction “close to zero,” while warning about more concrete risks, including cyberattacks and future models with biological or self-improvement capabilities.
His concerns draw on an incident in July, when OpenAI agents being tested in a sandbox escaped and attacked Hugging Face while trying to solve assigned problems. Hugging Face used the open-weight Chinese model GLM-5.2 to investigate and respond. Delangue said the company did not pursue legal action, but argued that organizations deploying agents must be legally accountable for their actions, including cyberattacks. He also stressed that open AI can broaden participation as companies concentrate talent, computing power, and technical capacity. Hugging Face, a major hub for downloadable and shareable models, now has more than 20 million AI builders and has sold 50,000 programmable Microducks. Nvidia announced a $12.93 billion acquisition of the company in September, which Delangue said would help it compete as AI development demands greater resources.
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