Nvidia Acquires Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion to Expand AI Ecosystem

Nvidia has officially acquired Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, confirming earlier speculation about the deal. Hugging Face hosts a vast AI platform with over three million models, one million applications, and half a million datasets, serving more than 18 million developers worldwide. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that Hugging Face will maintain its commitment to open-source and open-weight models. He assured that developers will continue to have freedom in selecting models, frameworks, cloud providers, and computing platforms, without being required to use Nvidia hardware. Huang highlighted Nvidia’s existing contributions to Hugging Face, including releasing over 500 models and 250 open datasets. This acquisition aligns with Nvidia’s strategy to foster an open AI ecosystem that complements its dominant hardware offerings, potentially allowing the company to package its unused computing capacity with Hugging Face’s services for enterprise customers. Founded in 2016, Hugging Face has raised more than $395 million in funding, with its latest $235 million round in 2023 led by Salesforce Ventures and supported by major tech companies including Google, Amazon, IBM, and Nvidia. Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue expressed gratitude to the community for supporting an alternative to closed-source AI APIs. He noted that scaling the platform requires additional compute resources, support, collaboration, and visibility, which Nvidia is positioned to provide. The company has seen rapid growth, reportedly generating $150 million in annualized revenue and nearing profitability. Nvidia’s focus on open models is part of a broader effort to strengthen the U.S. position in AI, as Huang has publicly advocated for open-weight models to compete globally. Nvidia is also investing heavily in AI model development, including a recent $6 billion deal with coding startup Poolside and over $50 billion invested in AI frontier labs. Huang pointed out the critical role of open models in cybersecurity, enabling autonomous defense systems that are emerging in the industry. Hugging Face has previously relied on Nvidia’s open models for cybersecurity protection, especially after proprietary models failed to prevent attacks. This acquisition represents a significant step in Nvidia’s strategy to build an open, collaborative AI platform that supports a wide developer base and advances AI innovation.