Nvidia confirmed on September 3, 2026 that it agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, exactly $12,930,300,000, gaining the open-source AI hosting platform used by over 18 million developers. CEO Jensen Huang pledged the platform will stay open, with no Nvidia compute required to build on or deploy through it.
What Are the Terms of Nvidia's $12.93 Billion Acquisition of Hugging Face?
Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, confirming the deal on September 3, 2026 and bringing one of the most popular hosting platforms for open-source AI models, datasets, and tools under its ownershipCITE:E1CITE:E8. In his own announcement, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated the exact price as $12,930,300,000CITE:E17. Huang said Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem, where developers choose their own models, frameworks, clouds, and inference providers: "Nvidia compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face"CITE:E3.
What Kind of Platform Is Hugging Face and What Role Does It Play in AI?
Hugging Face is an online platform founded in 2016 for AI developers to share projects and data, often described as the "GitHub" of AI for its browsable library of open-source machine learning modelsCITE:E2. The platform hosts three million models, one million applications, and half a million datasets, used by more than 18 million developersCITE:E9CITE:E18. Nvidia's own announcement adds that more than 200,000 companies use the platform to discover, evaluate, customize, and deploy AICITE:E18. Hugging Face has raised over $395 million in funding since its founding in 2016CITE:E11, with its last round in 2023 bringing in $235 million led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Google, Amazon, IBM, and NvidiaCITE:E12.
| Platform metric | Figure |
|---|
| Models hosted | 3 millionCITE:E9 |
| Applications | 1 millionCITE:E9 |
| Datasets | 500,000CITE:E9 |
| Developers using the platform | 18 million+CITE:E18 |
| Companies using the platform | 200,000+CITE:E18 |
| Total funding raised (since 2016) | $395 millionCITE:E11 |
How Did Hugging Face's Valuation Rise From $4.5 Billion to $12.93 Billion?
Hugging Face's valuation rose from $4.5 billion in its 2023 funding round to $12.93 billion in the deal Nvidia confirmed in September 2026CITE:E5CITE:E1. In between, Hugging Face turned down a $500 million investment offer from Nvidia last year that would have valued the company at $7 billion, reportedly over concerns about a single dominant investorCITE:E6. Around the time of the acquisition, Hugging Face was generating about $150 million in annualized revenueCITE:E7CITE:E14.
| Milestone | Value |
|---|
| 2023 funding round valuation | $4.5 billionCITE:E5 |
| 2025 rejected Nvidia offer | $500 million investment at $7 billion valuationCITE:E6 |
| 2026 acquisition price | $12.93 billionCITE:E1 |
| Annualized revenue (2026) | $150 millionCITE:E14 |
Measured against that $150 million annualized revenue figure, the $12.93 billion purchase price works out to roughly 86 times revenue.
What Collaboration Already Existed Between Nvidia and Hugging Face?
Nvidia was already the largest contributor of open models and data to Hugging Face before the acquisitionCITE:E19. Huang said Nvidia has released more than 500 models and 250 open datasets on the platformCITE:E10CITE:E19. Nvidia was also already an investor, having participated in Hugging Face's 2023 funding round alongside Salesforce Ventures, Google, Amazon, and IBMCITE:E12.
Why Did Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue Agree to the Deal?
Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue said scaling the platform further required more compute, support, collaboration, and visibility, which led him to Nvidia CEO Jensen HuangCITE:E13. Delangue said on X: "But for it to happen at larger scale, it needs more compute, more support, more collaboration, and more visibility. That's why we went to talk to Jensen, who offered to do exactly that with us"CITE:E13.
How Does the Deal Fit Nvidia's Broader AI Investment Strategy?
Nvidia has infused more than $50 billion into AI frontier labs, according to its recent earnings callCITE:E16. Last month, Nvidia struck a $6 billion deal with coding startup Poolside to develop open modelsCITE:E15.
How Was the Deal Reported Before Nvidia's Confirmation?
Business Insider reported on August 23, 2026 that Hugging Face was working with a bank to explore options for a $13 billion sale, ahead of Nvidia's official confirmationCITE:E4.
What This Means
Hugging Face rejected a $500 million Nvidia investment at a $7 billion valuation in 2025CITE:E6, then accepted a full acquisition at $12.93 billion less than a year laterCITE:E1, a price equal to roughly 86 times its reported $150 million annualized revenueCITE:E14. The deal extends a pattern of Nvidia capital commitments across AI infrastructure, including more than $50 billion into AI frontier labsCITE:E16 and the $6 billion Poolside dealCITE:E15, while Nvidia entered the transaction already the platform's largest model and dataset contributor and an investor since 2023CITE:E12CITE:E19. Huang's pledge that "Nvidia compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face"CITE:E3 now sits alongside Nvidia's position as both owner and largest single contributor to the platform.