Jensen Huang Says Nvidia to Buy Hugging Face for $12.93 Billion, Keep Open Ecosystem

Nvidia has agreed to acquire global artificial intelligence development platform Hugging Face for about $12.93 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang wrote in an official blog post on Sept. 3 that Nvidia had agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9303 billion. The company plans to use the deal to expand Hugging Face’s platform and broaden access to AI for institutions and developers.

Hugging Face is an open-source platform where developers share and use AI models and data. Nvidia says more than 18 million developers, researchers and creators currently use the service. The platform hosts more than 3 million AI models.

After the acquisition, Nvidia plans to continue operating Hugging Face as an open platform that is not tied to any one company’s technology. Developers will still be able to choose the models, development frameworks, cloud services and computing environments they want on Hugging Face.

They also will not be required to use Nvidia’s computing hardware when developing or deploying AI on the platform.

The acquisition will extend Nvidia’s reach beyond AI chips and computing infrastructure into model distribution, evaluation and deployment. The company said it will use its infrastructure and engineering capabilities to strengthen key Hugging Face functions, including security and stability.

The Hugging Face brand will remain after the acquisition, and its existing development team will join Nvidia.