News

Hugging Face Launches Gradio 5 with AI Powered App Creation and Enhanced Security Features

• By John K. Waters
• October 17, 2024

Hugging Face announced the launch of Gradio 5, the latest version of its open-source platform for building machine learning (ML) applications. This new release brings a range of features aimed at broadening access to AI, including an innovative AI-powered app creation tool, improved web development functionalities, and strengthened security measures.

Hugging Face, known for its widely-used repository of open-source ML projects, now hosts more than 1.3 million AI models, including those behind recent AI advancements in generative language models. The platform also offers access to 450,000 datasets and various other technical resources.

Since its acquisition by Hugging Face in 2021, Gradio has become a key part of the platform, attracting more than 2 million monthly users and supporting the development of over 470,000 applications.

Gradio 5 debuts an experimental "AI Playground," which enables users to create and preview AI-powered applications using natural language prompts. Abubakar Abid, Gradio's founder, explains that this feature is similar to other no-code or low-code development tools but goes further by offering web-based previews that can run directly in the browser.

"With Gradio 5, developers can build production-ready machine learning web applications that are performant, scalable, beautifully designed, accessible, and follow best web security practices, all in a few lines of Python," Abid said in a blog post.

Gradio’s integration with Hugging Face’s model hub is a key advantage, the company says. Once an AI model is uploaded to the repository, developers can incorporate it into their applications with minimal effort—now achievable with just a few commands or even spoken instructions. This tight integration dramatically reduces development time and simplifies the process for those building on Hugging Face’s ecosystem.

Hugging Face's growth and influence within the AI ecosystem have drawn the interest of major investors, including NVIDIA, which participated in Hugging Face’s recent $235 million funding round. Often compared to GitHub but with a specific focus on AI, Hugging Face acts as a hub where developers can access, share, and deploy AI models with ease.

The new release also aims to bridge the gap between machine learning developers and web development. “Many developers are proficient in Python but less familiar with web development tools,” Abid explained. “Gradio allows them to build scalable, secure applications that follow best practices in just a few lines of Python.”

Gradio 5 emphasizes accessibility and security, two areas increasingly important to enterprises. Hugging Face hired cybersecurity firm Trail of Bits Inc. to conduct an independent audit of the new codebase, ensuring it meets enterprise-grade security standards. The audit addressed previously identified issues and introduced new security enhancements, giving developers greater confidence in deploying their applications.

Hugging Face views the Gradio 5 release as just the beginning, with plans to introduce additional features and capabilities in the coming months. The roadmap includes mobile support, multipage applications, sidebars, navigation elements, and expanded support for image and video modalities.

As Gradio 5 rolls out, Hugging Face is positioning itself as a leader in democratizing AI development. By making it easier for developers to create AI-powered applications while ensuring performance and security, the company aims to fuel innovation and open new doors for “citizen developers” and experienced professionals alike.