SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – Nvidia has agreed to purchase artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. The firms finalized the deal on September 2, 2026. Nvidia will distribute approximately $11.9 billion to Hugging Face’s shareholders, subject to standard adjustments. The agreement also includes up to about $1 billion in equity-based retention awards for eligible staff. Nvidia anticipates the transaction will be completed in the first half of 2027, pending necessary approvals and closing conditions.
Hugging Face operates one of the largest platforms dedicated to sharing AI models, datasets, software tools, and applications. Nvidia states that the platform reaches more than 18 million developers, researchers, and creators globally. It hosts over 3 million models and roughly 500,000 datasets. The platform also provides access to over 1 million applications. More than 200,000 organizations utilize Hugging Face services for AI development, evaluation, customization, and deployment across various computing environments.
Following the deal’s closure, Hugging Face will continue functioning as an open platform. Developers will remain free to select their models, frameworks, cloud services, and computing platforms. The use of Nvidia hardware will not be mandatory for employing Hugging Face tools or deploying models on the platform. Additionally, Hugging Face will maintain support for open-source and open-weight models from other developers. Its services will continue to support multiple cloud providers, inference engines, and accelerator hardware, including products from other semiconductor firms.
Hugging Face to uphold open development principles
Founded in 2016 by Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond, and Thomas Wolf, Hugging Face has since expanded into hosting models, datasets, developer libraries, and cloud services tailored for AI projects. In August 2023, the company achieved a valuation of $4.5 billion following a funding round that raised $235 million from tech investors. Prior to the acquisition, Nvidia collaborated with Hugging Face through projects connecting developers with Nvidia’s computing resources and software, utilizing familiar Hugging Face development tools.
The agreement was disclosed by Nvidia in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 3, 2026. The filing indicates that the acquisition is still pending and has not yet been finalized. It remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Nvidia also outlined commitments regarding the future operation of Hugging Face, including continued access to models and datasets, multi-cloud support, and compatibility with hardware from other chip manufacturers.
Expected completion set for early 2027
Nvidia already has a significant footprint within Hugging Face’s developer community. The company reports having published more than 500 models and over 250 open datasets on the platform. Nvidia also offers software libraries and development tools that users can modify and incorporate into their own projects. Hugging Face supports developers at various stages of AI development, including model discovery, testing, adaptation, and deployment. The platform provides infrastructure for corporations, research bodies, and individual developers working on AI applications.
The acquisition of Hugging Face by Nvidia will proceed only after all regulatory and contractual conditions are satisfied. Nvidia expects to finalize the deal during the first half of 2027. Under the agreed terms, Hugging Face will continue supporting models and tools from the broader AI ecosystem. Developers will retain flexibility over frameworks, cloud platforms, inference providers, and hardware choices. Both companies have also pledged to preserve Hugging Face’s multi-cloud and multi-accelerator strategy once the acquisition is completed.