Nvidia Eyes $13B Buyout of Hugging Face
Nvidia Eyes $13B Buyout of Hugging Face
The News
Nvidia has been in serious talks to buy Hugging Face, the platform at the center of open-source artificial intelligence, in a deal that would value the startup at more than $13 billion, Business Insider reported early Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
No deal has been reached, and the talks could still fall apart, that person told the outlet.
Nvidia and Hugging Face did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment. Reuters, Bloomberg and MarketWatch picked up the report within hours.
Why It Matters
Hugging Face hosts millions of AI models and datasets that developers build on. Owning it would give Nvidia a far deeper foothold with those developers and could push more work onto Nvidia's chips, Business Insider reported.
It would also cut against the thing that made Hugging Face useful in the first place — its neutrality. The platform supports models and hardware from across the industry, including Nvidia rivals AMD and Intel.
Timeline
Nvidia takes part in Hugging Face's $235 million funding round, which valued the startup at $4.5 billion.
Hugging Face turns down a $500 million investment offer from Nvidia that would have valued it at $7 billion, the Financial Times reported at the time. The company said it did not want a dominant investor able to sway its decisions.
The two sides hold serious acquisition conversations about a deal above $13 billion, according to Business Insider's source. Microsoft also met with Hugging Face, but two people told the outlet those talks are not ongoing.
Nvidia says it has $18 billion committed to equity investments for the rest of its fiscal year, on top of $47.9 billion it already holds in private companies.
Business Insider publishes the report. Reuters and Bloomberg follow inside the hour.
Reactions
Neither company has commented. Nvidia and Hugging Face both declined to respond to Business Insider before publication.
Gizmodo, covering the report, put the deal value at about $13 billion. MarketWatch framed the talks as a sign that open-source AI is moving to the center of the industry's dealmaking.
What's Next
Nothing is signed. The reported talks may produce a deal, a smaller investment, or nothing at all — the person familiar with the matter stressed to Business Insider that they could still collapse.
Watch for a confirmation or denial from either company, and for whether Hugging Face's open-source developer base reacts to the prospect of a chipmaker owning the neutral ground.
More
The reported price would make it one of Nvidia's biggest deals ever. The company has been ramping up dealmaking with its cash pile as the AI buildout continues.
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