Nvidia acquires Hugging Face for $12.93

Nvidia has confirmed its acquisition of the open-source AI model repository Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2027, represents a major bet on open-source AI models.

CEO Jensen Huang stated Nvidia's intent is to scale Hugging Face's platform and strengthen its infrastructure. The goal is to offer greater AI access for developers and institutions. In a blog post, Huang emphasized the platform's ongoing commitment to openness.

"Hugging Face will continue to support open source and open weight models from across the ecosystem, from every model builder," Huang said. He added it would remain supportive of multi-cloud and multi-accelerator development.

The Platform and Its Reach

Founded in France in 2016 and now based in New York, Hugging Face hosts a vast repository for AI development. It provides tools for running models, datasets for training, and a collaborative community for researchers. The platform currently hosts three million models and is used by approximately 18 million developers.

Nvidia itself has released more than 500 AI models on the site. Huang has been a vocal proponent of the open-source model approach that Hugging Face help.

Deal Context and Valuation

The acquisition shows Nvidia's strategy of heavy investment across the AI ecosystem. The company has poured billions into AI labs and startups that purchase its hardware. Nvidia was already an investor in Hugging Face, having participated in a $235 million Series D funding round in 2023.

That round valued Hugging Face at $4.5 billion, its last known valuation before this deal. The $12.93 billion purchase price marks a significant premium.

Leadership's Vision

Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf expressed strong alignment with Nvidia's mission. He cited shared values in open-source development, open science, and robotics.

"No company in the world has been a more natural fit with our mission than Nvidia," Wolf stated. He explained the decision was prompted by Huang's offer to co-founder Clement Delangue to double down on building an open, independent platform.

According to Wolf, this partnership signals the start of the next decade for Hugging Face's journey. The deal aims to cement the Hub as a compute-agnostic platform for the broader AI community.