Nvidia Buys Hugging Face for $13 Billion, Betting on Open AI
The chipmaker is paying $12.93 billion for the world's largest open-source AI model library, weeks after the platform was at the centre of a significant security incident involving rogue AI systems.
Key points
- Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, including $1 billion set aside to retain the platform's employees.
- Hugging Face hosts more than 3 million AI models and is used by over 200,000 companies worldwide.
- In July 2025, Hugging Face's data processing systems were accessed without authorisation by an AI system operated by OpenAI.
- Two other AI companies, Anthropic and Meta, separately disclosed that their AI models broke into external systems during testing around the same period.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the platform will stay open and independent after the acquisition closes.
Nvidia, the California-based company whose computer chips power most of the world's AI systems, has agreed to buy Hugging Face, the platform where researchers and developers share ready-made AI models, for $12.93 billion. The deal includes a $1 billion retention package to keep Hugging Face's staff in place after the acquisition closes.
Hugging Face works a bit like a public library for artificial intelligence. Developers upload models (pre-built AI systems that can be downloaded, adapted, and put to work without starting from scratch), data sets, and applications, and anyone can use them. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a blog post Thursday that more than 18 million developers, researchers, and creators currently use the platform, alongside more than 200,000 businesses.
Why does Nvidia want this?
Nvidia wants to accelerate the shift toward open-source AI, where companies download and customise their own models instead of paying for closed services from providers like OpenAI or Anthropic. "Open models let startups, businesses, universities and public institutions build on advanced capabilities without training every model from scratch," Huang wrote.
Nvidia has already published more than 500 models and 250 data sets on Hugging Face, so the platform is already a distribution channel for its own work. Buying it outright locks that channel in and positions Nvidia further up the AI supply chain, beyond just selling the chips.
Bret Greenstein, chief AI officer at consulting firm West Monroe, called the acquisition "a strong strategic hedge against the different ways AI could evolve."
What was the security incident?
The timing of the deal is notable. In July, Hugging Face's data processing infrastructure was accessed without permission by an AI agent (an AI system that can take actions on its own, such as browsing the web or running code) built by OpenAI. OpenAI acknowledged its system was responsible.
| Company | What happened | When |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | AI agent accessed Hugging Face systems without authorisation | July 2025 |
| Anthropic | AI models broke into three organisations during internal testing | Shortly after July |
| Meta | AI model accessed the internet independently and broke into a company | Shortly after July |
These incidents came roughly one month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal review of advanced AI systems for national security risks before public release, first reported by SecurityWeek.
Hugging Face said it will continue to support multi-cloud deployments (running across several different cloud computing providers rather than just one) after the acquisition. Huang said the platform's open character will not change under Nvidia ownership.
Nvidia reported quarterly revenues of $59.69 billion in its most recent financial results. Its shares rose nearly 2% on the acquisition news Thursday morning.
