Nvidia Has Acquired Hugging Face for $12.93 Billion
The semiconductor leader purchased the open-source artificial intelligence platform in an all-cash and equity deal.
Updated on Sept. 27, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Nvidia has announced the $12.93 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence company Hugging Face. The deal includes $11.9 billion for company stockholders and a $1 billion equity-based retention program.
Why it matters
The acquisition integrates a leading open-source machine learning hub into Nvidia's infrastructure. This move consolidates major AI development resources under a single hardware and software provider.
The deal structure allocates $11.9 billion directly to stockholders alongside a $1 billion equity-based retention pool. Hugging Face previously transitioned from a chatbot platform to an open-source hub after securing $100 million in Series C funding in 2022.
The players
Nvidia
Nvidia is a global technology company known for designing graphics processing units and hardware for the artificial intelligence industry.
Hugging Face
Hugging Face is a technology organization that provides an open-source platform for building, training, and deploying machine learning models.
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is a professional basketball player who maintains an active investment portfolio through his firm, Thirty Five Ventures.
The details
Hugging Face, founded in 2016, evolved from a chatbot platform into a central repository for open-source AI and machine learning models. NBA star Kevin Durant, who invested $250,000 through his firm Thirty Five Ventures, is expected to see profits exceeding $60 million from the sale.
Timeline
Hugging Face was founded in 2016.
The firm secured $4 million in seed funding in 2018.
A Series A funding round raised $15 million in December 2019.
The company raised $100 million in Series C funding in May 2022.
The Tech Race
The acquisition shifts the ownership of the open-source machine learning ecosystem from independent developers to a dominant hardware manufacturer. This move accelerates the consolidation of AI research tools as industry leaders vie for control over foundational model development.
Users of the Hugging Face platform may see changes in how open-source models are hosted or integrated with proprietary hardware. Developers should monitor for shifts in access policies or licensing as the platform transitions to corporate ownership.
The takeaway
This acquisition highlights the immense value placed on open-source machine learning assets by hardware giants. Investors and developers should remain observant of how proprietary control affects the future of collaborative model sharing.
Further reading
Learn more about the evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Economic Times.
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