Nvidia buys Hugging Face for $12.9B, promises not to squeeze too hard

Nvidia has reached a deal to acquire AI developer platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, solidifying its control over the open model ecosystem. The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of 2027, will bolster Nvidia's presence in developer, model distribution, and community layers. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the importance of open models in advancing AI safely, strengthening cybersecurity and sovereignty, accelerating innovation, and reaching various industries.

Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clément Delangue highlighted the need for more compute, support, collaboration, and visibility for open source AI to reach a larger scale. Forrester Research principal analyst Charlie Dai noted that enterprise users should be cautious of any shift in Hugging Face's open stance. While Nvidia is likely to maintain the platform's openness initially, enterprises should monitor potential future changes and assess the financial stability of the AI ecosystem, as a few large companies hold significant influence.