Building on open source AI? Hugging Face’s policy chief on the costs, risks, and trade-offs
Open source models are becoming more mainstream as enterprises, governments and startups alike rely on the promise of lower costs, more control, and more flexibility. But as increasingly capable models become more freely available, how do companies capture value? And with Chinese open models gaining

Buy One Founder Summit Ticket, Get a Second for Free. Register now.
Founder Summit begins Nov. 4, 9:00 a.m. ET. Get your pass savings & deals before it starts. REGISTER HERE.
TechCrunch Desktop Logo TechCrunch Mobile Logo Latest Startups Venture Apple Security AI Apps Disrupt 2026 Events Podcasts Newsletters Search Submit Site Search Toggle Mega Menu Toggle Topics Latest
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Open source models are becoming more mainstream as enterprises, governments and startups alike rely on the promise of lower costs, more control, and more flexibility. But as increasingly capable models become more freely available, how do companies capture value? And with Chinese open models gaining ground, can American players keep up?
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Irene Solaiman, Chief Policy Officer and SVP of Strategy at Hugging Face, about what startups need to know before building on open models, from choosing the right tools and infrastructure to navigating the trade-offs shaping the future of open AI.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing [email protected]. View Bio Rebecca Bellan Senior Reporter
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.
November 4 Boston Buy One Pass, Get a Second Free Cover more ground at TechCrunch’s ultimate founder bootcamp of the year by bringing your co-founder or partner for free Book before the BOGO deal expires
New York City’s Mamdani criticizes Madison Square Garden owner over surveillance tech Zack Whittaker
Anthropic warns that it’s very close to RSI capability, aka self-building AI Julie Bort
New York Times and other outlets sue web browser Brave over alleged content scraping Rebecca Bellan
Anthropic expected to receive high ‘junk’ rating from credit agencies following IPO, FT report says Lucas Ropek
Google’s first data center satellite is online and writing poetry Tim Fernholz
Binance pauses withdrawals as hackers suspected of stealing billions in crypto Zack Whittaker
As search traffic dries up, Reddit announces it’s shifting to a logged-in experience Sarah Perez
Building on open source AI? Hugging Face’s policy chief on the costs, risks, and trade-offs Theresa Loconsolo Rebecca Bellan 15 minutes ago Startups The ‘Vulnpocalypse’ is coming for the internet’s aging code, says Wiz’s CTO Theresa Loconsolo Rebecca Bellan Oct 28, 2026 Venture The PHP Armageddon reminds us that the internet is held together by glue and dreams Theresa Loconsolo Anthony Ha Kirsten Korosec Sean O'Kane Oct 23, 2026 Meta and Instinct are racing to build your AI assistant. Wabi has a different idea.
Rebecca Bellan Theresa Loconsolo Oct 22, 2026 X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunch Staff Contact Us Advertise Site Map Terms of Service Privacy Policy RSS Terms of Use Code of Conduct Voice AI Anthropic Flock Startup Battlefield Disrupt 2026 Tech Layoffs ChatGPT © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC.