Behind the Site

Hugging Face

huggingface.co

Open-source AI model and dataset hub, acquired by Nvidia for $12.9 billion in 2026.

  • Artificial intelligence infrastructure
  • acquired
  • Founded 2016
  • Researched Sep 2026
Confirmed
Age10 years
Likely
Based inNew York City, New YorkAlso Paris, France
Unverified
Employees250-424Wikipedia infobox cites 250 employees (2025); Revelio Labs headcount tracker cites 424 (2025) and 391 (2026); figures conflict
Likely
Funding$395M raisedSeries D $235M
Likely
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, API
Confirmed
Founders3 foundersClement Delangue, Julien Chaumond, Thomas Wolf

The story

Hugging Face was founded in New York in 2016 by French entrepreneurs Clement Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf as a chatbot app for teenagers, then pivoted into an open-source machine learning tooling and model-hosting platform after open-sourcing the tech behind the chatbot. It grew into the leading hub for sharing AI models, datasets and demos, raising roughly $395 million from investors including Google, Amazon, Nvidia and Salesforce. In 2026 Nvidia agreed to acquire the company for $12.9 billion.

Pivot · 2018

Consumer chatbot app for teenagers

Open-source NLP tooling and model-sharing platform for developers

Timeline

  1. Founded2016

    Founded in New York

    Delangue, Chaumond and Wolf launch teen chatbot startup

  2. Pivot2018

    Pivots to open-source NLP

    Open-sourced BERT model, shifted from chatbot to ML tooling

  3. LaunchApr 2021

    Launches BigScience workshop

    Multi-org project to build an open large language model

  4. Launch2022

    Releases BLOOM model

    176-billion-parameter open multilingual language model unveiled

  5. MilestoneFeb 2023

    AWS partnership announced

    AWS customers gain access to Hugging Face tools

  6. FundingAug 2023

    Raises $235M Series D

    Valued at $4.5 billion with Salesforce, Google, Nvidia

  7. AcquiredApr 2025

    Acquires Pollen Robotics

    Bought French humanoid robotics startup to open-source robots

  8. AcquiredAug 2026

    Nvidia agrees to acquire

    Nvidia to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion

  9. AcquiredSep 2026

    Nvidia deal confirmed

    Nvidia confirmed $12.93 billion acquisition of the platform

Founders

  • Clement Delangue

    Co-founder and CEO

    Serial entrepreneur; previously at Moodstocks, later acquired by Google

  • Julien Chaumond

    Co-founder and CTO

    Polytechnique/Stanford computer engineer; formerly at France's economic ministry

  • Thomas Wolf

    Co-founder and Chief Science Officer

    Physics PhD and former intellectual-property lawyer

11 sourcesEvery fact above links back to these.
  1. Hugging Face - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
  2. Hugging Face, the French startup that became AI's warehousetechxplore.com
  3. Nvidia agrees to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, report sayscnbc.com
  4. Nvidia confirms it will buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billiontechcrunch.com
  5. NVIDIA to Acquire Hugging Faceblogs.nvidia.com
  6. Hugging Face | Company Overview & News - Forbesforbes.com
  7. Tech Giants Invest $235 Million in AI Startup Hugging Facepymnts.com
  8. Hugging Face homepagehuggingface.co
  9. HuggingSnap on the App Storeapps.apple.com
  10. Hugging Face Number of Employees 2026 - Revelio Labsreveliolabs.com
  11. Hugging Face approached Nvidia's Huang weeks ahead of $12.9B acquisitioncnbc.com
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