Nvidia is set to purchase the open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, according to The Information.
Citing a person familiar with the matter, the publication said the deal had been agreed amid acquisition interest from at least one other bidder.
Hugging Face hosts over two million AI models and datasets and has become known as a trusted repository for open-source and open-weight AI models. The Information said the firm has an annual revenue of around $150 million, mainly made enterprise spending on model hosting, private model deployments, and advanced security plans.
Last week, Business Insider reported that Hugging Face has been working with a bank to scope for potential acquisition bidders, citing insiders.
The deal would value Hugging Face at almost three times the $4.5 billion it was valued at in 2023, in a $235 million funding round led by Salesforce, Google, and Nvidia. In January, the Financial Times reported that Hugging Face had rejected a $500 million investment from Nvidia.
Nvidia reported $96 billion in revenue in its second quarter earnings, forecasting a 70 per cent jump in revenue in its 2028 fiscal year.
The chip giant, which has poured billions into AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic, is increasingly diversifying its investments. In December 2025 it invested $20 billion in the AI chip startup Groq, in May agreed to provide optics firm Corning with up to up to $3.2 billion, and last week signed a $6 billion deal with open-weight AI developer Poolside.
Nvidia has also been a vocal proponent of open-weight models, having recently promoted an open letter urging the US government not to impose bans on Chinese AI models.
Naveen Chhabra, principal analyst at advisory firm Forrester, said: “Nvidia’s competitive position remains strong, but alternatives are emerging. Accelerators options are emerging. However, Nvidia advantage is not simply silicon but the entire platform, software stack, and ecosystem.
“Nvidia supports “every model” and every deployment environment. The market is unlikely to become ‘Nvidia vs. one competitor’. Instead, buyers will operate in a heterogeneous environment with Nvidia, hyperscaler chips, and specialized accelerators.”
Recent months have seen increased focus on firms that facilitate the development, deployment, and inference of AI models. Last week, for example, payments provider Stripe announced it would acquire the AI model gateway OpenRouter with the aim of improving AI orchestration and token management for its customers.
