Lin QiaoPatrick CollisonRampOpenRouterJellyfishOpenAIFireworksPoolsideGeminiNvidia CorporationStripe, Inc.

Nvidia reportedly in talks to acquire Hugging Face; open-weight AI startups become Valley's hottest acquisition targets

Nvidia is reportedly in talks to acquire Hugging Face, a leading developer of open-weight AI models, following its recent $6 billion deal with Poolside. This trend highlights the growing interest in open-weight startups, as companies like Stripe also pursue acquisitions in this emerging sector.

TechCrunch TechCrunch28 August 2026 · 19:08 UTC
CuriousCats Full Story

Nvidia's potential acquisition of Hugging Face underscores a significant shift in the AI landscape, where open-weight models are becoming increasingly valuable.145

Following a recent $6 billion deal with Poolside, Nvidia aims to reduce its reliance on major hyperscalers and gain access to a broader user base.

Currently, only 6% of companies utilize open-weight models, according to Ramp, indicating substantial growth potential.6

Nik Albarran, AI product lead at Jellyfish, noted that these models are particularly beneficial for businesses with repeated inference workloads, such as customer service applications.

Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, emphasized the economic potential of AI, stating, “Tokens are the central currency for companies building with AI.”2

As prices from frontier labs rise, more companies may consider investing in self-hosting models.

Lin Qiao, CEO of Fireworks, highlighted the importance of in-house research, suggesting that every app company should develop specialized models tailored to their use cases.

The trend of acquiring open-weight startups, as seen with Stripe's recent acquisition of OpenRouter for over $7 billion, reflects the growing capital influx into this sector, which is based on providing open access to AI technologies.

Key Insight
“The deal would give Nvidia control of the largest U.S. developer space for open models, driving users to its chips. Adoption remains small but growing, with just 6% of companies using open-weight models, per Ramp, and Fireworks processing 40 trillion tokens daily.”
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“Rumors of that deal come after Nvidia struck a $6 billion agreement with Poolside, an open-weight model builder, that will see most of its employees move to the chip-making giant.”
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EARLIER IN THE STORY:
Nvidia nears $12.9 billion deal to buy open-source AI platform Hugging Face; deal would bolster its AI chip dominance
FortuneFortune
Nvidia nears $12.9 billion deal to buy open-source AI platform Hugging Face; deal would bolster its AI chip dominance

Nvidia agrees to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, according to reports.

$12.9 Billion DealAmazon.Com, Inc.Anthropic Pbc
2026-08-27
TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
  • Nvidia has reportedly agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular platform which hosts open-weight AI models, for $12.9 billion, according to The Information.
  • Business Insider first reported that Hugging Face was fielding takeover interest over the weekend, indicating that discussions were underway.
  • Hugging Face last raised money in 2023, achieving a $4.5 billion valuation during a funding round led by Ventures.
  • The company turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia last year, as it did not want a single dominant investor.
  • In July, OpenAI disclosed that its AI models had hacked Hugging Face's systems, raising concerns about security.
  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang defended open-source AI models last month, emphasizing their importance for safety and innovation.
Nvidia held talks to acquire AI startup Hugging Face in a deal that could value it at over $13 billion, Business Insider says
BloombergBloomberg
Nvidia held talks to acquire AI startup Hugging Face in a deal that could value it at over $13 billion, Business Insider says

Nvidia Corp. held talks about acquiring Hugging Face in a deal that would potentially value the AI startup at more than $13 billion, according to Business Insider.

Artificial Intelligence InfrastructureEntrepreneurship In AiHugging Face Deal
2026-08-27
TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
  • Nvidia Corp. held talks about acquiring Hugging Face in a deal that would potentially value the AI startup at more than $13 billion, according to Business Insider.
  • The two sides have held serious conversations about a transaction in recent weeks, the news outlet reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
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