Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for nearly $12.9 billion, in a deal that the companies formalized on Thursday.
The agreement strengthens Nvidia's bet on AI software, infrastructure, and open-weight models.
Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face for nearly $12.9 billion
What Nvidia seeks with the purchase of Hugging Face
The acquisition marks a step forward for Nvidia towards the development of generative AI tools and infrastructure services.
The company already offers Nemotron, a family of AI models with open, free, and customizable weights. Additionally, it committed to maintaining the current open standards of Hugging Face.
The strategy aims to strengthen ties with developers seeking advanced and non-proprietary tools. Nvidia also argues that open models can benefit the tech sector compared to closed alternatives.
What is Nvidia looking for with the acquisition of Hugging Face
Earlier this month, Nvidia gathered over 80 companies to sign an open letter addressed to the U.S. Government. The request aimed to defend open-weight AI models.
The company also created SAFE, an initiative to confidentially collect and analyze incidents related to AI. The project seeks to identify recurring failures and publish evidence-based operational recommendations.
The acquisition marks a step forward for Nvidia in the development of generative AI tools
“Open models allow startups, companies, universities, and public institutions to leverage advanced capabilities without having to train each model from scratch,” stated Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.
Why Nvidia bets on open-source software
The strategy may seem striking because CUDA, the software layer used by its GPUs, is proprietary.
However, some large AI labs and hyperscalers are looking to develop their own custom chips. In light of this scenario, Nvidia expanded its software offerings to keep developers within its platforms.
Why Nvidia is betting on open source software
The company has also begun positioning itself as a manufacturer of high-performance GPUs and CPUs, in addition to strengthening its presence in infrastructure.
What is Hugging Face
Hugging Face was founded a decade ago in New York by three French entrepreneurs. Its first project was an AI application designed as a “companion,” but the idea did not succeed.
What is Hugging Face
The team then developed natural language processing tools and sought to make complex technologies more accessible to developers.
Over time, Hugging Face became a platform for sharing source code, datasets, and large language models.
“Open-source AI is at a turning point,” wrote Clément Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, when announcing the acquisition.
Hugging Face became a platform for sharing source code
According to PitchBook, the company had raised nearly $400 million in venture capital funding by December 2025.
Among its investors are Betaworks, Lux Capital, Sequoia Ventures, Coatue, and Addition. Individual investors such as Greg Brockman, Richard Socher, and Kevin Durant also participated.
The company had raised nearly 400 million dollars in venture capital funding
The incident that put Hugging Face under scrutiny
The platform had recently come under the attention of the tech sector after being hacked by AI agents from OpenAI.
The incident sparked a debate about the security and management of autonomous agents developed by leading artificial intelligence companies.
In 2023, Delangue estimated that in five years there would be around 100 million AI creators. He also noted that mass adoption of Hugging Face by those developers would benefit the company.
