Hugging Face 'Resignation' Post Turns Out to Be a Prank

Merve Noyan, a member of Hugging Face's developer experience (DevEx) team, posted on September 11 announcing she was "resigning from HF today" after five years, claiming the founders "have not been acting responsibly" — quickly drawing attention and discussion across the open-source AI community. The post then took a turn: the "irresponsible" behaviors she listed were actually ironic praise — the founders built a platform connecting the entire open-source AI ecosystem and preventing a duopoly, models can run locally at blazing speed, saving money on hosting costs, and workflows stay private. Merve later urgently clarified it was all a joke, saying she had been flooded with DMs and begging people to stop messaging her.

Confirmed

• Merve Noyan worked on DevEx at Hugging Face for five years and posted the "resignation" on September 11
• The post opened with "the founders are irresponsible," but the content was actually backhanded praise of the platform's value: connecting the open-source AI ecosystem, avoiding a duopoly, supporting fast local model runs, and cutting costs
• She has clarified it was a joke and publicly asked people to stop the DM flood

Unconfirmed

• User xhluca speculated in the replies that she was joining NVIDIA, and Merve replied "true" — but this is only an implied hint at the reply level, with no formal hiring announcement

Why it matters

• The joke post was widely spread as a real "veteran employee blasting the founders," creating a wave of misread sentiment in a short time, showing how hypersensitive the AI community is to personnel turmoil at top companies
• The joke's core is actually a positive assessment of Hugging Face's open-source ecosystem positioning, indirectly reflecting the community's recognition of its role in "countering closed-platform monopolies"

2026-09-11 ~ 2026-09-11 · 7 related posts

• Hugging Face DevEx Veteran Resigns Publicly, Says 'None of the Founders Are Acting Responsibly' — mervenoyann · 2026-09-11
• [source] Ex-Hugging Face DevEx engineer hints she's joining NVIDIA after resigning — xhluca · 2026-09-11
• [source] Hugging Face dev's dramatic 'resignation' post was a joke, DMs ensued — mervenoyann · 2026-09-11
• [source] Hugging Face DevEx veteran posts fake 'resignation' that's actually a platform love letter — ben_burtenshaw · 2026-09-11

3 near-duplicate retellings: MaziyarPanahi · ariG23498 · mmitchell_ai