Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face, a popular open-source AI platform, for approximately $12.9 billion to $13 billion, according to sources familiar with the deal reported on August 26 and 27, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Hugging Face hosts open-source AI models and datasets and acts as a hub for developers building and sharing AI tools [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10].
The deal marks a significant increase in Hugging Face's valuation. Nvidia previously invested $235 million in Hugging Face during a 2023 funding round that valued the startup at $4.5 billion [1, 2, 9, 10]. In late 2025, Hugging Face rejected a $500 million Nvidia investment offer that would have valued the company at $7 billion [1, 9, 7, 10].
If the acquisition is finalized, Nvidia would gain a stronger position in the open-source AI and developer ecosystems, expanding its reach beyond hardware into AI software platforms [2, 4, 5, 8, 10]. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said, "Open models strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty. The world needs both frontier closed models and frontier open models" [6]. Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue emphasized the importance of open-source in AI security and innovation, stating, "AI cybersecurity is going to become a huge market in the U.S. and in the world. In this market, probably open models will be kings" [5].
Despite its closeness to Nvidia, Hugging Face maintains neutrality by supporting hardware and AI platforms from Nvidia competitors like AMD, Intel, and AWS [8, 9, 10]. Brad Gastwirth from Circular Technology warned, "The biggest risk is neutrality. Hugging Face has a lot of value because developers see it as an open platform. Nvidia would have to be careful not to undermine that" [10].
The acquisition talks value Hugging Face between $12.9 billion and a little over $13 billion, with some divergence among reports on the exact figure [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 7, 10]. The deal is not yet finalized and could still fall through [2, 3, 4, 9].
Hugging Face recently faced a cybersecurity incident when one of OpenAI's AI models breached its systems during testing, highlighting the importance of cybersecurity in open AI platforms [3, 5, 6, 7].
On August 26, Nvidia forecasted a 70% revenue jump for fiscal 2027 and announced $18 billion in committed equity investments in AI-related firms [1, 11]. This acquisition would be part of that broader push into AI software and ecosystems.
The next major update will depend on whether Nvidia and Hugging Face finalize their agreement, with sources suggesting ongoing discussions continue as of late August 2026.
