Hugging Face vows to keep backing open-source AI as Nvidia deal faces leadership questions

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Hugging Face backs open-source AI

Highlights

Nvidia's $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, announced in September, faces uncertainty after CEO Huang's departure and remains scheduled to close in the first half of 2027.
The U.S. Department of Justice has begun antitrust scrutiny of the Hugging Face deal, focusing on its potential impact on AI market competition and Nvidia's control over open-source model distribution.
Nvidia solidified its open AI commitment with a $6 billion Poolside deal in August, the launch of a 120-billion-parameter Nemotron model, and continued advocacy for open-weight AI models.

Leadership change raises new questions for pending acquisition

As first reported by TechCrunch, Delangue calls Huang's departure a "really sad day" and says Hugging Face will keep pushing harder than ever for open-source AI despite the leadership upheaval at Nvidia.

His comments on X suggest Huang's exit is unsettling for open-source advocates because the Nvidia chief has been one of the industry's most visible supporters of open-source and open-weight models. That stance has made him an important figure for Hugging Face, which Nvidia agrees to buy in a deal announced in September.

The transaction, valued at $12.9 billion, is Nvidia's second-largest acquisition after its $20 billion purchase of Groq assets in December 2025. The deal remains scheduled to close in the first half of 2027, while requests for additional comment on the transaction's status and on any contact with interim CEO Collette Kress are not returned.

Open AI strategy remains under regulatory and market focus

Reuters reported in October that the U.S. Department of Justice begins asking questions about how the Hugging Face acquisition would affect competition in the AI market. Nvidia has pledged to preserve the platform's open support, but the deal would also give it control over a major distribution channel for AI models.

Huang's support for open AI extends beyond the acquisition. In July, he publishes a policy letter on X signed by 25 companies including Microsoft, Meta, Hugging Face, IBM and Palantir, urging the U.S. government not to over-restrict open-weight AI models and arguing they broaden access, adaptability and availability across the AI ecosystem.

He also says open-weight models expand participation in the AI economy, strengthen competition and reduce the risk of customers becoming locked into a single provider. Nvidia reinforces that strategy in August with a $6 billion Poolside deal aimed at building an open AI ecosystem in the U.S., then expands its Nemotron family last month with a 120-billion-parameter enterprise agent model and two lightweight Bolt models for PCs.

Earlier this year, Huang promotes open-source AI during his January keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, saying open-source models have "really revolutionized artificial intelligence."

We have also analyzed Nvidia’s push for AI safety dialogue with Chinese companies as regulators weigh cross-border AI risks.

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