NVIDIA’s Landmark Acquisition of Hugging Face: A $12.9 Billion AI Game-Changer
In a move hailed as one of the most significant in the AI industry this year, NVIDIA has officially confirmed its acquisition of open-source AI platform, Hugging Face. The deal, valued at approximately $12.93 billion, marks the chipmaker’s largest-ever acquisition. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang formally announced the deal on September 3, 2026, expressing the company’s vision to “expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide.”
Boasting a community of more than 18 million developers, researchers, and creators, Hugging Face is a hub for over 3 million AI models, 500,000 datasets, and 1 million applications. The platform is a trusted resource for more than 200,000 companies seeking to discover, customize, and deploy AI solutions. The acquisition price comprises an $11.9 billion payment to Hugging Face shareholders, along with an equity-based retention program of up to $1 billion to retain Hugging Face employees transitioning to NVIDIA.
In a crucial commitment, NVIDIA has pledged to maintain the open and accessible nature of the Hugging Face platform. This ensures that model makers, developers, and users can continue to upload and download models and datasets from any vendor. Subject to regulatory approvals, the deal is slated to close in the first half of 2027. This acquisition is NVIDIA’s second-largest on record, following its $20 billion licensing deal with AI chip startup Groq. The transaction signifies a dramatic leap from Hugging Face’s $4.5 billion valuation in 2023.
Sources: NVIDIA Official Blog | CNN Business