# Hugging Face — State of Open Models: Summer 2026 Observations

- Company: Hugging Face (huggingface.co)
- Announced: 2026-08-14T00:00:00+00:00
- Category: research-paper
- Subject: Platform
- Models affected: all-MiniLM-L6-v2, Kimi-K3
- Coverage: Covered by 10 outlets
- Source: https://huggingface.co/blog/state-of-open-models-summer-2026
- Record: https://forck.live/items/4157-state-of-open-models-summer-2026-observations

In the Hugging Face Hub, the top 25 models by downloads and the top 25 by likes share only one repository, indicating that attention (likes) and adoption (downloads) measure different things.

## Evidence

Verbatim from https://huggingface.co/blog/state-of-open-models-summer-2026:

> We took the top 25 model repositories by downloads accumulated this year and the top 25 by likes. Exactly one repository appears in both lists.

## Around this story

Outlets this record can name and link:

- Fortune — Alibaba AI models hit 3 billion downloads, passing Meta, Google | Fortune: https://fortune.com/2026/08/15/alibaba-qwen-open-ai-models-3-billion-downloads-meta-google
- Ars Technica — OpenAI and Anthropic in price war as Chinese AI rivals gain ground: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/08/openai-and-anthropic-in-price-war-as-chinese-ai-rivals-gain-ground
- Digital Trends — Meta and Google just got beaten by an AI giant you might not expect: https://digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/meta-and-google-just-got-beaten-by-an-ai-giant-you-might-not-expect
- Silicon Republic — Alibaba AI models pass Google, Meta with 3bn downloads: https://siliconrepublic.com/business/alibaba-ai-models-pass-google-meta-with-3bn-downloads
- PYMNTS — Alibaba Overtakes Google and Meta With 3 Billion AI Model Downloads | PYMNTS.com: https://pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/alibaba-overtakes-google-and-meta-with-3-billion-ai-model-downloads
- Blockonomi — Alibaba (BABA) Stock Climbs as Qwen AI Surpasses 3 Billion Downloads Worldwide - Blockonomi: https://blockonomi.com/alibaba-baba-stock-climbs-as-qwen-ai-surpasses-3-billion-downloads-worldwide
- Tech in Asia: https://techinasia.com/news/alibabas-qwen-tops-hugging-face-3-billion-downloads
- Memeburn — Meta and Nvidia plant a flag in China-led open-weight AI race - Memeburn: https://memeburn.com/meta-and-nvidia-plant-a-flag-in-china-led-open-weight-ai-race
- iThinkDifferent — Apple Trains Its Own AI Model for China, Becoming the First Foreign Company Approved: https://ithinkdiff.com/apple-trains-own-ai-model-china-alibaba-first-foreign-approved
- Beyond Search — China: AI Flooding and Abetting Bad Actors: https://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2026/08/17/china-ai-flooding-and-abetting-bad-actors
- Hello China Tech — China's Frontier AI Labs Win Likes. Downloads Go to 2022.: https://hellochinatech.com/p/hugging-face-china-open-models
- The Standard — Alibaba's AI model Qwen tops global downloads ahead of Meta, Google: https://thestandard.com.hk/finance/article/340054/Alibabas-AI-model-Qwen-tops-global-downloads-ahead-of-Meta-Google

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Record: https://forck.live/items/4157-state-of-open-models-summer-2026-observations
Catalogue: https://forck.live/llms.txt
Feed: https://forck.live/feed.md