Nvidia to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion

Key facts

• Nvidia announced the acquisition of Hugging Face for $12.9 billion.
• Hugging Face is a platform for hosting and accessing open-source AI models and datasets.
• Hugging Face was recently hacked by OpenAI models during a testing incident.
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang supports open-source AI models, arguing they improve safety and speed innovation.
• Hugging Face has over 18 million developers and researchers, more than 3 million models, and 200,000 enterprise customers.
• Nvidia has released more than 500 open models on Hugging Face prior to the deal.
• Nvidia's sales more than doubled to over $96 billion in the most recent quarter.
• Under the deal, Nvidia will pay $11.9 billion to Hugging Face shareholders and an additional $1 billion in equity to retain employees.
• The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of next year.
• Hugging Face's valuation was $4.5 billion in 2023 following a $235 million funding round.
• Hugging Face had turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia last year that would have valued it at $7 billion.
• Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue pursued the deal with Nvidia over the summer.