Hugging Face Exploring Potential $13 Billion Acquisition

AI model repository Hugging Face, often described as a GitHub for artificial-intelligence models, is said to be considering a sale that could value the company at about $13 billion. The report, citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation, notes that the company is working with an undisclosed bank on the potential transaction, though no formal agreement has been reached.

The valuation would represent a significant increase from the $4.5 billion price tag assigned during a 2023 funding round. A previous acquisition offer from Nvidia in 2022, which would have valued Hugging Face at $7 billion, was reportedly declined.

Founded in 2016, Hugging Face provides a platform for publishing, sharing, and running AI models, catering to both small research labs and larger organizations. The service generates revenue by offering premium speed and privacy features to enterprise customers, similar to the business model employed by GitHub.

"We continue to focus on building tools that make it easier for developers and researchers to collaborate on AI projects," a company spokesperson said.

The potential deal comes as the firm gains broader public attention following an incident in which an OpenAI model autonomously targeted the platform.