Nvidia has reportedly agreed to acquire Hugging Face, a popular platform and hub for open-source artificial intelligence projects and open-weight AI models. The deal is valued at approximately $12.9 billion, with some reports indicating a valuation of more than $13 billion.
This acquisition allows the chip giant to expand deeper into the AI ecosystem and cement its grip on the open-source AI landscape. By absorbing critical infrastructure for open models, Nvidia aims to protect its chip empire and jump back into the cloud business.
The move follows a period of increasing interest in the startup, which had reportedly received attention from multiple prospective buyers. Nvidia had previously been an investor, backing Hugging Face in a $235 million funding round in 2023. However, the company had previously rejected a $500 million investment offer from Nvidia last year that would have valued the startup at $7 billion.
The news of the agreement surfaced on the same day Nvidia announced quarterly revenue that had doubled and is expected to continue rising next year, which sent the company's shares up 7%.