Nvidia to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion, Securing Open‑Source AI Hub

Key Points

• Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, valuing the startup at about 86 × its annualized revenue.
• The deal gives Nvidia control over the world’s largest open‑source model hub, which hosts over three million AI models.
• Hugging Face has expanded into affordable robotics, launching the Reachy Mini and Microduck kits priced under $500.
• A new enterprise storage service, already used by AI lab Arcee, adds a significant revenue stream beyond the model marketplace.
• Acquisition provides Nvidia with a ready‑made cloud compute distribution channel for its GPUs, addressing past cloud‑business challenges.
• Open‑source AI competition intensified in 2025‑26, with models like GLM 5.2 and Gemma 4 narrowing the gap to proprietary systems.