Nvidia Scoops Up Hugging Face in $12.9 Billion AI Play

Nvidia has confirmed its acquisition of AI hosting platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, marking one of the largest startup deals in recent history.

The deal is Nvidia's second-largest after its $20 billion licensing agreement with Grok Inc. last year, and it will give the company access to a vast array of AI models and datasets hosted on Hugging Face's platform.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that the acquisition will allow the company to gain visibility into customers' preferences and AI model usage, as well as provide data-driven foresight into future chip architectures.

Hugging Face's main source of revenue comes from cloud services for AI development teams, including its popular Hugging Face Hub platform. The company has also ventured into other markets, including the sale of a rollerblade-equipped robotic duck that topped $5 million in sales in just five days.