Hugging Face in acquisition talks at $13B valuation amid AI infrastructure demand
Fujigo Software Solutions
Member of M&C Holdings (Japan)
Hugging Face, the platform where developers and researchers share, find, test, and deploy AI models, has been approached to sell at a valuation of $13 billion or more, Business Insider reported over the weekend.
Valuation nearly triples
The talks come amid increased interest in companies providing core AI infrastructure services, as evidenced by Stripe’s $7 billion acquisition of OpenRouter.
Hugging Face last raised in 2023 at a $4.5 billion post-money valuation in a round led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Alphabet, GV, IBM Ventures, and others. The current $13 billion valuation represents a nearly 3x increase over 3 years.
It’s not clear who Hugging Face has been in talks with, and no deal has yet been reached, according to Business Insider. However, the startup has reportedly been talking to banks to help evaluate bids.
CEO says “close to profitability”
On a recent episode of the TechCrunch Equity podcast, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue said that the company was “close to profitability” and only “recently started to touch the money that it raised three years ago,” adding that the startup is thinking about how to optimize for “long-term sustainability of the company rather than short-term profits or fundraising maximization.”
“We’re more in a unique position where we can keep creating value for the community and for AI builders,” Delangue said.
Questions about open-source future
The way Delangue has discussed the company’s responsibility to the Hugging Face community raises questions over whether the startup is truly considering selling or is simply fielding offers for what has become a central pillar in AI infrastructure.
“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,” Delangue said on Equity.
Notably, the company earlier this year turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia that would have valued it at $7 billion, saying at the time that it didn’t want a single dominant investor to sway decisions.
Impact on Vietnam and Japan markets
For the developer community in Vietnam and Japan, Hugging Face is an indispensable platform for accessing open-source AI models. If this deal goes through, the big question is whether the open-source commitment will be maintained under new ownership.
Businesses building AI products in Vietnam need to closely watch this deal, as any changes to Hugging Face’s open-source policies could affect the cost and accessibility of AI technology.
Source: Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B — TechCrunch, August 24, 2026