这个类似 GitHub 的开源 AI 仓库上一次估值是在 2023 年，当时为 45 亿美元。
这个类似 GitHub 的开源 AI 仓库上一次估值是在 2023 年，当时为 45 亿美元。
Nvidia 已同意以 129.3 亿美元收购 Hugging Face，将这一最受欢迎的开源 AI 模型、数据集和工具托管平台之一纳入全球最大 AI 芯片制造商的麾下。
Hugging Face 是一个成立于 2016 年的在线平台，为 AI 开发者提供与其他用户及公众分享项目和数据的空间。由于其可浏览的开源机器学习模型库以及对社区协作功能的重视，它常被形容为 AI 领域的“GitHub”。
“我们将携手扩大 Hugging Face 的平台规模，强化其基础设施，并拓展全球开发者和机构获取 AI 的途径，”Nvidia CEO 黄仁勋在公告中表示。“Hugging Face 将继续作为整个 AI 生态系统的开放平台。开发者可以自由选择他们想要的模型、框架、云和推理服务提供商，以及计算平台。在 Hugging Face 上进行开发或部署，并非必须使用 Nvidia 的计算资源。”
关于 Hugging Face 可能被收购的猜测始于 8 月 23 日，此前 Business Insider 报道称，这家初创公司正在与一家银行合作，探讨以 130 亿美元出售的可能性。到 8 月 27 日，Business Insider 报道称，Nvidia 在过去一周一直在与 Hugging Face 进行收购谈判，尽管 The Information 早些时候的一篇报道称，两家公司之间已达成了 129 亿美元的交易。
虽然这些报道当时无法得到独立核实，但 Nvidia 现已公开声明其收购这个开源 AI 代码库的意向。随着开源开发者目前正竞相追赶闭源 AI 系统，Nvidia 有望获得一个战略立足点，以帮助维持其在 AI 硬件领域的主导地位——如今 OpenAI、Anthropic 和 Google 等闭源 AI 提供商正试图生产自己的 AI 芯片。
Hugging Face 上一次的官方估值为 45 亿美元，基于 2023 年的一轮融资，Nvidia 参与了该轮融资。英国《金融时报》此前报道称，Hugging Face 去年拒绝了 Nvidia 提出的 5 亿美元投资要约，该要约将使其估值达到 70 亿美元，据称是因为担心出现单一、占主导地位的投资者。
不过，这家初创公司并不是一个重要的盈利来源。The Information 报道称，Hugging Face 最近的年化收入约为 1.5 亿美元，仅为其收购价格的一小部分。话虽如此，作为全球市值最高的上市公司，Nvidia 眼下确实有大量资金可以挥霍，而且它似乎很乐意这样做，以保护其一直在构建的 AI 帝国。
The GitHub-like open-source AI repository was last valued at $4.5 billion in 2023.
The GitHub-like open-source AI repository was last valued at $4.5 billion in 2023.
Nvidia has agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, bringing one of the most popular hosting platforms for open-source AI models, datasets, and tools under the ownership of the world’s biggest AI chipmaker.
Hugging Face is an online platform founded in 2016 that gives AI developers a space to share their projects and data with other users and the general public. It’s often described as the “GitHub” for AI due to its browsable library of open-source machine learning models and emphasis on community collaboration features.
“Together, we will scale Hugging Face’s platform, strengthen its infrastructure and expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in his announcement. “Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem. Developers will choose the models they want, the frameworks they want, the clouds and inference service providers they want and the computing platforms they want. Nvidia compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face.”
Speculation regarding a potential Hugging Face acquisition started on August 23rd, after Business Insider reported that the startup was working with a bank to explore options for a $13 billion sale. By August 27th, Business Insider reported that Nvidia had been having acquisition conversations with Hugging Face over the previous week, though an earlier report by The Information said that a $12.9 billion deal between the companies had already been agreed upon.
While these reports couldn’t be independently verified at the time, Nvidia has now publicly declared its intentions to purchase the open-source AI repository. With open-source developers currently racing to catch up with closed AI systems, Nvidia stands to gain a strategic foothold to help preserve its AI hardware dominance now that closed-source AI providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are attempting to produce their own AI chips.
The last official valuation Hugging Face had was $4.5 billion, off the back of a funding round in 2023 that Nvidia participated in. The Financial Times previously reported that Hugging Face rejected a $500 million investment offer from Nvidia last year that would have valued it at $7 billion, apparently expressing concerns over having a single, dominant investor.
The startup isn’t a significant money-maker, however. The Information reports that Hugging Face has recently been generating around $150 million in annualized revenue, barely a fraction of its purchase price. That said, as the world’s most valuable public company, Nvidia sure has a lot of money to throw around right now, and it seems happy to do so to protect the AI empire it’s been building.