Nvidia to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion
Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face, a leading platform for sharing AI models, in a deal valued at approximately $12.9 billion. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2027 and will include an equity-based retention program of up to $1 billion for Hugging Face employees who join Nvidia. This marks one of the largest acquisitions in Nvidia's history—nearly twice as much as its previous biggest deal, Mellanox. The 2019 acquisition of Mellanox was valued at around $6.9 billion and significantly boosted Nvidia’s networking business to over $31 billion by fiscal 2026. Hugging Face is expected to bring similar strategic value through integration into the AI ecosystem rather than standalone growth. Hugging Face, which has a user base of more than 18 million developers and researchers, reported annualized revenue exceeding $150 million as of August 2024. Nvidia’s acquisition price represents around 86 times this figure—far higher than the five times sales paid for Mellanox.
Tickers: $NVDA
Topics: acquisitions AI Hugging Face Nvidia