Hugging Face is gauging buyer interest in a potential sale that could value the AI model-sharing platform at $13 billion or more, Business Insider reported. The New York-based company has engaged a bank to sound out bidders, though no acquirer has been identified and no deal has been reached.
The figure marks a sharp jump from Hugging Face's last funding round in 2023, when it raised $4.5 billion in backing from Salesforce Ventures, Alphabet, GV and IBM Ventures. Earlier this year the company turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia that would have valued it at $7 billion, citing concerns about letting a single dominant investor shape its direction.
CEO Clement Delangue said the startup is "close to profitability" and has only recently begun drawing on the capital raised three years ago, framing the company's priority as long-term sustainability over a quick payout. The talks follow Stripe's more than $7 billion acquisition of AI gateway startup OpenRouter earlier this month, underscoring intensifying investor appetite for AI infrastructure companies.