Nvidia to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion in Major Open-Source AI Push

Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face, the leading open-source AI platform and developer community, for $12.9 billion. The definitive agreement was signed on September 2, 2026, and announced publicly on September 3. CEO Jensen Huang called the deal a "growth driver" and said Nvidia will "expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide."

The deal structure includes approximately $11.9 billion paid to Hugging Face stockholders, subject to adjustments, plus an equity-based retention program of up to $1 billion for Hugging Face employees joining Nvidia. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approvals.

Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue told CNBC that he approached Nvidia first during the summer, saying the company was "a perfect home" and that discussions moved quickly. Delangue said he felt open-source AI had reached a turning point requiring more resources, scale, and visibility. Analysts have noted the deal is less about near-term profit and more about Nvidia deepening its position at the center of the AI ecosystem, giving the chipmaker direct access to the platform developers use to collaborate on, test, and share AI models and datasets.