SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – Nvidia revealed on September 3, 2026, that it has reached an agreement to acquire Hugging Face for a total of $12.93 billion in a definitive transaction. The deal was signed on September 2, 2026. Nvidia will allocate approximately $11.9 billion to Hugging Face shareholders, subject to certain adjustments. Additionally, the agreement includes the possibility of offering up to about $1 billion in equity-based retention awards for employees joining Nvidia. The transaction is anticipated to be finalized in the first half of 2027, pending necessary regulatory approvals.
Hugging Face operates a popular platform that supports developing, sharing, and deploying artificial intelligence models, datasets, and applications. Nvidia reported that over 18 million developers, researchers, and creators utilize the platform. The platform hosts more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets, and 1 million applications. Its services are used by more than 200,000 companies to discover, evaluate, customize, and implement AI systems. Over time, Hugging Face has become a key hub for open-source and open-weight AI development.
Nvidia emphasized that Hugging Face will continue to be accessible to developers working with various models, frameworks, cloud providers, and computing platforms. The company clarified that Nvidia hardware will not be mandatory for building or deploying models via Hugging Face. The platform will also sustain support for open-source and open-weight models from a diverse range of developers. Nvidia assured that Hugging Face will keep supporting multiple cloud services and accelerator platforms, including continued access for developers relying on hardware from other semiconductor manufacturers.
Agreement maintains Hugging Face’s open ecosystem
Hugging Face was founded in 2016 by French entrepreneurs Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond, and Thomas Wolf. The company developed software libraries alongside its services for hosting models and datasets. Valued at $4.5 billion during its latest disclosed funding round in August 2023, Hugging Face raised $235 million from technology investors. Prior to the acquisition, Nvidia and Hugging Face had already collaborated on projects that provided developers with access to Nvidia’s computing infrastructure through familiar Hugging Face tools.
In a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 3, Nvidia disclosed the definitive agreement. The filing confirms that the acquisition has not yet been finalized. Completion depends on fulfilling customary closing conditions and securing regulatory approvals. Nvidia also reaffirmed its commitment to keeping the Hugging Face platform open under its existing policies, including support for uploading and downloading selected models and datasets, as well as continued compatibility with silicon vendors other than Nvidia.
Regulatory approval process ongoing before closing
Nvidia has already established a significant presence on Hugging Face through its open AI releases, publishing more than 500 models and over 250 open datasets. The company also develops libraries and tools that developers can adapt and build upon. Hugging Face offers infrastructure for researchers, companies, and independent developers working with AI, including model hosting, datasets, software tools, and cloud-based resources for building and deploying AI applications.
The $12.93 billion Nvidia-Hugging Face deal remains pending until all closing conditions are satisfied. Nvidia stated that Hugging Face will continue to support models from across the AI ecosystem after the transaction is completed. Developers will retain flexibility regarding models, frameworks, cloud providers, inference services, and computing platforms as per the commitments made. Furthermore, Hugging Face will uphold support for multi-cloud and multi-accelerator development and deployment. Nvidia anticipates the deal will close in the first half of 2027, following the approval of all necessary regulatory authorities.