Nvidia has agreed to acquire AI developer platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, marking one of the chipmaker’s biggest acquisitions.

The deal gives Nvidia a stronger position in the growing market for open AI models, at a time when its biggest customers are increasingly developing their own chips.

Hugging Face is widely used by developers and businesses to collaborate, test and share AI tools and models.

Nvidia believes that owning the platform will give it deeper access to the wider AI-development ecosystem and help strengthen its position as competition increases.

The acquisition comes as companies such as Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft attempt to reduce their dependence on Nvidia’s expensive and supply-constrained processors. 

Chinese companies, including DeepSeek and Z.ai, are also increasing competition in the AI industry with lower-cost models.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Hugging Face would remain an open platform, meaning developers would not be required to use Nvidia hardware. 

Under the agreement, Nvidia will pay about $11.9 billion to Hugging Face investors and offer up to $1 billion in equity incentives to employees.

For Nvidia, the acquisition is about more than selling chips. By expanding its presence in the open AI ecosystem, the company is seeking to protect its influence as competition grows and customers look for alternatives to its hardware. 

Source: Reuters