Nvidia has agreed to buy AI model platform Hugging Face for $13bn, marking its largest acquisition to date and a major step in the $5.4tn chip giant's strategy to control more of the AI ecosystem. The deal, announced Thursday, aims to accelerate the spread of open-weight models, which allow developers to download, customize, and run AI on their own hardware without relying on proprietary systems from labs like Open AI and Anthropic.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said open weights enable startups, universities, and businesses to build on advanced capabilities sustainably across sectors from factories to hospitals. Hugging Face, based in New York, hosts 3mn open models, 500,000 datasets, and 1mn AI applications, serving over 18mn developers and 200,000 companies. The platform previously rejected a Nvidia investment at a $7bn valuation to maintain independence.

The acquisition, expected to close by 2027, will likely face regulatory scrutiny. Nvidia pledged Hugging Face will remain an open platform where developers can choose their models, cloud providers, and chips. The move also diversifies Nvidia's demand base beyond major customers like Open AI and Anthropic, who are developing their own processors. Nvidia's Justin Boitano expressed confidence regulators will view the deal positively.