Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue confirmed the company will continue its commitment to open-source AI following the departure of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Delangue described the leadership change as a difficult moment but emphasized that the mission remains a priority.
Nvidia announced plans to acquire Hugging Face in September for $12.9 billion. This transaction is currently expected to close in the first half of 2027. The deal follows Nvidia's acquisition of Groq assets in December 2025 for $20 billion.
The U.S. Department of Justice initiated inquiries in October regarding the potential impact of the Hugging Face acquisition on market competition. While Nvidia has pledged to maintain open support, regulators are examining the company's control over a major distribution channel for AI models.
Jensen Huang has been a vocal proponent of open-weight models. In July, he published an AI policy letter signed by 25 companies, including Microsoft, Meta, and IBM, urging the government to avoid over-restricting open-weight AI technology.
Nvidia has actively invested in the open AI ecosystem, including a $6 billion deal with startup Poolside in August. Additionally, the company recently expanded its Nemotron model family with a 120-billion-parameter model and two lightweight Bolt models for PCs.
