Nvidia Agrees to Buy Hugging Face for $12.93 Billion
On September 3, 2026, Nvidia and Hugging Face signed a definitive agreement: $11.9 billion to shareholders plus up to $1 billion in retention equity, close targeted for the first half of 2027, with Huang promising the Hub stays multi-hardware.
TLDR
NVIDIA on Thursday, September 3, 2026 said it has a definitive agreement to acquire Hugging Face. $11.9 billion to shareholders + up to $1 billion retention equity = $12.9303 billion. Close targeted H1 2027, subject to regulatory review. Jensen Huang: remain open; “NVIDIA compute will not be required.” Hub stats cited: 18 million developers; 3 million+ models; 500k datasets; 1 million apps; 200k companies. Nvidia already the largest HF contributor (500+ models, 250+ datasets). Clem Delangue: approached Huang over the summer; other bidders existed. Prior HF valuation $4.5 billion (2023); turned down Nvidia money at $7 billion last year (FT). August 26 TI exclusive was talks; today is the signed deal—not a dual-file of the rumor.
The contract
| Item | NVIDIA blog Sep 3 |
|---|---|
| Price | $12.93B (cash + retention) |
| Close | H1 2027 target |
| Promise | Hub stays multi-hardware |
| Status | Definitive agreement, not closed |
Product-line de-dupe: not Aug 23 Perplexity talks, not Aug 26 TI $12.9B exclusive. Signed M&A.
Why this story matters
Nvidia is buying the model supermarket, not another neocloud. If the Hub stays multi-hardware, this is distribution; if CUDA quietly wins default, it is a chokepoint. Watch: H1 2027 regulators, and whether open-weight labs keep shipping here.