Google Cloud partners with Hugging Face to attract AI developers

FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 8, 2019. REUTERS/Paresh Dave/File Photo

(Reuters) - The cloud computing arm of Alphabet Inc said on Thursday it had formed a partnership with startup Hugging Face to ease artificial intelligence (AI) software development in the company's Google Cloud.

Following the launch of generative AI tools focused on consumers from the likes of Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet, large and small businesses have become interested in deploying AI for their own purposes - such as boosting an existing product or serving an internal need. The need to create AI software that is optimized for specific tasks and needs prompted the partnership.