Nvidia Reportedly Plans $13 Billion Acquisition of Hugging Face
Nvidia is reportedly close to acquiring Hugging Face for 12.9 billion dollars, a move that would give the chipmaker major control over one of the most important repositories for open AI models. Hugging Face functions as a central hub where developers store, share, and refine models, making it a critical piece of infrastructure for the open‑weight ecosystem. The deal is not yet finalized, but multiple sources confirm that negotiations are active and that other companies, including Salesforce, previously attempted to buy Hugging Face. Nvidia has long supported open‑weight AI and even released its own Nemotron models, so owning Hugging Face would significantly strengthen its influence in that space. The acquisition could also revive Nvidia’s stalled plans for a cloud AI business by giving it a ready‑made platform and community. Hugging Face is not yet profitable, but its strategic importance has grown as frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic invest in custom hardware to reduce reliance on Nvidia. By controlling Hugging Face, Nvidia could encourage developers and companies to continue building on its GPUs rather than shifting to alternative hardware. The platform’s expansion into robotics and physical AI models also aligns closely with Nvidia’s existing strengths, opening new opportunities for future integration.
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