Nvidia has agreed to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, a deal confirmed by The Information. The company, which hosts open models and provides cloud services, has operated in the sector for a decade while generating approximately $150 million in annual revenue. CEO Clem Delangue stated the business is close to profitability, meaning Nvidia is paying roughly eighty times the firm’s yearly income. This acquisition follows Nvidia’s previous commitment of $26 billion over five years to develop open-source AI models. Meanwhile, closed providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic are actively reducing their reliance on Nvidia hardware. OpenAI is building custom chips with Broadcom and secured access to AMD processors, while Anthropic and Google are developing their own silicon.
The move allows Nvidia to scale Hugging Face’s cloud operations and position it as a central hub for open-weight models similar to OpenRouter. This strategy aligns with the hardware giant’s existing approach and creates a strong incentive for developers to purchase more Nvidia chips. The deal secures a popular developer ecosystem that currently lacks a unified alternative as competitors build independent infrastructure.
- Payment represents roughly eighty times annual revenue
- OpenAI and Anthropic are building custom silicon
- Hugging Face hosts open AI models and cloud services
