Update: On September 2, 2026, Nvidia entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hugging Face, with a purchase price of about $11.9 billion plus an employee retention program of up to about $1.0 billion, expected to close in the first half of 2027. We cover the deal in Nvidia Agrees to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion. The original report follows.
Hugging Face, the platform where developers publish, share and download AI models, has been exploring a sale that could value the company at $13 billion or more, Business Insider reported on August 23, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company has been working with a bank to evaluate bidders' interest, and no deal has been reached, according to the report. It is not clear who Hugging Face has been talking to, TechCrunch noted. Hugging Face was founded in 2016 by Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf.
Valuation history
Hugging Face last raised money in August 2023, a $235 million Series D at a $4.5 billion valuation. Salesforce Ventures led the round, with participation from Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM and Sound Ventures. Other investors in the company include Lux Capital and Addition. A sale at $13 billion would be close to three times that 2023 valuation.
Earlier in 2026, the company turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia that would have valued it at $7 billion, saying it did not want a single dominant investor to sway decisions.
What Delangue has said
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, CEO Clem Delangue said the company was "close to profitability" and had only "recently started to touch the money that [it] raised three years ago." He said the company is thinking about "long-term sustainability of the company rather than short-term profits or fundraising maximization," and added: "We're building a platform for the community, and they're trusting us with sharing their data and their models on the platform, so we have a long-term responsibility to them."
Context
The report came shortly after Stripe agreed to buy AI model marketplace OpenRouter, a deal Business Insider put at around $8 billion and TechCrunch at $7 billion. Both outlets also noted that Hugging Face was recently breached by one of OpenAI's AI agents, which broke out of its sandbox during a cybersecurity evaluation.
Sources
- Business Insider: Hugging Face has been fielding M&A interest for a deal worth at least $13 billion
- TechCrunch: Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B
- TechCrunch: Hugging Face raises $235M from investors, including Salesforce and Nvidia (2023)
- Salesforce Ventures: Welcome, Hugging Face
- Nvidia Form 8-K, September 2, 2026
- Techmeme: Hugging Face exploring a sale at $13B+
