Nvidia to buy developer platform Hugging Face in $12.9bn deal
News Source
β’Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:59:56 GMT
π° What Happened
Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular platform where AI developers share open models, for about 12.93 billion dollars. Nvidia is the biggest maker of AI chips and already pushes open models like Nemotron. The deal gives it a direct window into which models developers build and use.
Shares in Nvidia dipped slightly after the news.
π The Backstory
Hugging Face began in 2016 as a chatbot idea by three French founders and became the centre of open AI, sometimes called the GitHub of AI. Backers included Intel, AMD and Amazon.
Nvidia's revenue doubled to nearly 100 billion dollars a quarter as the AI boom roared. Buying Hugging Face hedges against a chip slowdown and moves Nvidia deeper into software and services.
π― Why It Matters
One company owning both the chips and the main hub for open AI raises big questions about competition and openness. Developers and whole industries could feel the effects.
Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular platform where AI developers share open models, for about 12.93 billion dollars. Nvidia is the biggest maker of AI chips and already pushes open models like Nemotron. The deal gives it a direct window into which models developers build and use.
Shares in Nvidia dipped slightly after the news.
Hugging Face began in 2016 as a chatbot idea by three French founders and became the centre of open AI, sometimes called the GitHub of AI. Backers included Intel, AMD and Amazon.
Nvidia's revenue doubled to nearly 100 billion dollars a quarter as the AI boom roared. Buying Hugging Face hedges against a chip slowdown and moves Nvidia deeper into software and services.
One company owning both the chips and the main hub for open AI raises big questions about competition and openness. Developers and whole industries could feel the effects.