The deal highlights Nvidia's growing interest in open source artificial intelligence, as the chipmaker looks beyond its powerful processors and expands its role in the software and platforms that support AI development.
Hugging Face has become an important platform for AI developers, researchers and companies by providing a place where users can share and access AI models, datasets and applications.
The platform has more than 18 million developers and 200,000 companies, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
It hosts millions of AI models and datasets and has become one of the most widely used resources for developers working with artificial intelligence.
Despite the acquisition, Nvidia said Hugging Face will remain an open platform.
It will continue supporting different cloud computing providers and various types of AI accelerators rather than being limited exclusively to Nvidia technology.
This approach is significant because many AI developers and businesses increasingly rely on open source models that they can modify and adapt for their own needs.
It also offers an alternative to depending entirely on proprietary AI systems operated by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
Nvidia has also committed $1 billion to retaining Hugging Face employees as part of the transaction, according to the AP report.
The acquisition comes as Nvidia continues to benefit from the global AI boom. Its graphics processing units, or GPUs, have become essential infrastructure for training and running advanced AI models.
The company has increasingly expanded beyond selling chips, investing in software, cloud computing and other technologies designed to support the development of AI systems.
The Hugging Face deal also comes at a time when the AI industry is facing growing questions about the cost of developing increasingly powerful models, their environmental impact and the potential effect of automation on jobs.
Hugging Face itself has recently faced security concerns after AI-related systems were hacked, highlighting the growing cybersecurity challenges facing companies operating in the AI ecosystem.
The acquisition would give Nvidia a stronger position in the software side of artificial intelligence while giving Hugging Face access to Nvidia's enormous resources and technological ecosystem.
Nvidia's shares rose nearly 2% following the announcement, reflecting investor optimism about the potential of the deal.
Source : https://new.igihe.com/english/nvidia-to-acquire-ai-platform-hugging-face-for-13-billion/
