Nvidia reportedly agrees to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion

Nvidia is reported to be in advanced talks to acquire the artificial intelligence model repository Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. The transaction, if completed, would allow the hardware manufacturer to deepen its integration with the broader AI industry. According to a report from The Information, both parties are actively pursuing the deal, although it has not yet been finalised. A separate source confirmed to CNBC that negotiations are currently underway.

Hugging Face operates as a cloud platform for AI models, functioning similarly to GitHub for conventional software. Developers use the site to search for, download, and fine-tune models before uploading new variants. The company, which was founded in 2016, reportedly attracted interest from other firms, including Salesforce. While Nvidia had previously invested in the firm, Google and Microsoft were also among its investors. Hugging Face is not yet profitable, but its status as the primary hub for open-weight models makes it strategically significant regardless of its current financial position.

The acquisition would grant Nvidia substantial influence over the ecosystem of open models, which are viewed as alternatives to proprietary systems developed by firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Nvidia has released its own open model family, Nemotron, and has previously struggled to launch a dedicated cloud AI business. Owning Hugging Face could help revitalise those efforts. The deal is also significant because frontier labs are increasingly investing in specialised hardware to reduce their reliance on Nvidia. By controlling a key platform for model distribution, Nvidia may be able to encourage continued use of its hardware. Additionally, Hugging Face has expanded into models for robotics and physical AI, areas where Nvidia is already a major player.