Hugging Face released a community article on September 13, 2026, reflecting on the evolution of AI from closed-source models like ChatGPT to open-source alternatives such as DeepSeek. It is the company's first detailed exploration of its community's journey into open-source AI since the launch of Qwen and DeepSeek.
The article reported that open-source models like Qwen and DeepSeek allow users to inspect the inner workings of AI systems, unlike closed-source models such as ChatGPT, which claim security and privacy but cannot be independently verified. This transparency is a key advantage of open-source platforms.
The article emphasized the importance of open-source in the author's personal journey, starting with the Raspberry Pi and its nearly fully open operating system. This early exposure helped shape the author's appreciation for open-source development.
"I really love old electronics," said the author, who is writing this on a 2016 laptop. The author also expressed fascination with floppy disks, which inspired the creation of the Single Floppy model, despite its poor performance compared to smaller models.
The announcement follows the author's transition from ChatGPT to DeepSeek, citing dissatisfaction with the latter's rate limits and restrictions at public libraries. The author now considers making a dedicated PC for training models.
Hugging Face did not comment on the author's personal project, and the author remains uncertain about the future of the Single Floppy model. The author is now considering purchasing a new PC for training.
Source: huggingface
