Nvidia Acquires AI Powerhouse Hugging Face in a Record-Breaking $12.9B Deal
In a landmark move, Nvidia has officially confirmed its acquisition of the open-source artificial intelligence platform, Hugging Face, for a staggering $12.9 billion. This deal is the second-largest in the chipmaker’s history.
The announcement, made on Thursday, includes a purchase price of approximately $11.9 billion payable to Hugging Face shareholders. Additionally, an equity-based retention program worth up to $1 billion has been set up for Hugging Face employees who transition to Nvidia. The deal is slated to be finalized in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, expressed that the acquisition would “expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide.” He further committed to maintaining the openness of Hugging Face’s platform, in line with its current open-source practices. Hugging Face’s CEO, Clément Delangue, who reportedly initiated the deal, described Nvidia as “a perfect home” for his company.
Hugging Face, a popular platform for developers to share, test, and deploy open-source AI models and datasets, was previously valued at $4.5 billion in 2023. This acquisition signifies a tremendous endorsement of the open-source AI movement, with Nvidia indicating its aspiration to control the entire AI stack, from chips to software ecosystems.
The deal surpasses Nvidia’s previous record purchase of Israeli chipmaker Mellanox for nearly $7 billion in 2019. It also follows the $20 billion acquisition of Groq assets late last year.
Source: CNBC – Nvidia agrees to buy Hugging Face for almost $13 billion