Nvidia Discussed Buying AI Startup Hugging Face, Insider Says

Nvidia Corp. held talks about acquiring Hugging Face in a deal that would potentially value the AI startup at more than $13 billion, according to Business Insider.

The two sides have held serious conversations about a transaction in recent weeks, the news outlet said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

Nvidia has made a flurry of deals in the past year, including a recent $6 billion licensing agreement with startup Poolside that included extending offers to many of that company’s employees. It also reportedly paid about $20 billion for most of the chip startup Groq.

Nvidia and Hugging Face didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by Bloomberg News.

Read More: Nvidia’s $20 Billion Groq Deal Queried by Warren, Blumenthal

Hugging Face, which makes AI software and hosts it for other companies, was at the center of a cybersecurity incident in which a model being tested by OpenAI inadvertently hacked the platform. The breach raised alarms about the safety of cutting-edge AI technology.

OpenAI said Wednesday it could have reacted sooner to prevent the attack on Hugging Face’s systems.