Nvidia Reaches Agreement to Acquire Open-Source AI Platform Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion
Semiconductor titan Nvidia has officially signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hugging Face, the world's leading open-source artificial intelligence community and repository, in a transaction valued at approximately $12.9 billion. The deal comprises around $11.9 billion payable to Hugging Face shareholders alongside equity-based retention incentives for employees joining Nvidia.
Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang confirmed the deal, emphasizing that Hugging Face will continue operating as an open, neutral platform. The central hub currently hosts over 3 million AI models, 500,000 datasets, and 1 million applications utilized by more than 18 million developers and researchers worldwide. Huang noted that open models accelerate innovation and cybersecurity while allowing developers globally to build and customize AI applications.
The acquisition marks a major strategic expansion for Nvidia beyond hardware chips into software distribution and model ecosystem management. Industry analysts view the move as a dual offensive and defensive strategy, cementing Nvidia's position within the open-source developer community. While some industry partners who previously invested in Hugging Face have raised questions about platform neutrality, Nvidia assured that the service will remain fully accessible across all competing chip architectures and cloud providers. The transaction is slated to close in early 2027 subject to regulatory approvals.
