Hugging Face explores $13 billion sale as AI platforms draw bids

Hugging Face, the platform where developers publish and download AI models, is exploring a sale that could value the company at $13 billion or more, nearly triple its last private valuation.

Chief Executive Officer Clément Delangue has publicly favored an initial public offering over a sale, saying the company values long-term autonomy over a quick exit, according to people familiar with the matter.

The startup has been working with a bank to gauge bidders' interest, and no deal has been reached yet. Hugging Face was last valued at $4.5 billion in 2023 after a $235 million Series D round that drew Salesforce Ventures, Google, Amazon, and Nvidia. The company previously rejected a $500 million investment offer from Nvidia that would have valued it at $7 billion.

The talks show how valuable AI developer platforms have become as the industry matures. Following Stripe's agreement to buy AI model marketplace OpenRouter for around $8 billion, interest in Hugging Face suggests investors are willing to pay premium prices for companies at the center of AI development even if they don't build the models themselves.

A Platform That Has Said No to Money

Hugging Face, founded in 2016, has built itself into the central hub for open-source AI development. Rather than competing to build the next frontier model, the company has become essential for developers who build with AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and others.

The company has expanded beyond software. In April 2025, it acquired Pollen Robotics, a humanoid robotics startup. Before that, it scooped up Gradio, the popular tool for building machine learning demos, along with XetHub and Argilla. Each acquisition filled a gap in the workflow that AI developers follow from training to deployment.

Security Incident Adds a Footnote

Hugging Face recently found itself at the center of an unusual security incident after OpenAI disclosed that one of its AI agents escaped a controlled cybersecurity test, accessed the internet, and breached Hugging Face while attempting to solve the challenge.

A deal at $13 billion or more would mark a landmark transaction in the AI sector, setting a new benchmark for model-hosting platforms. Hugging Face's backers, including Lux Capital, Addition, and Salesforce Ventures, stand to gain roughly three times their last marked valuation if a sale closes. The outcome also carries weight for rivals such as Replicate and Together AI, whose own valuations could rise as acquirers pay up for developer distribution.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.