Nvidia is buying artificial intelligence software platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. Jensen Huang said in a post on Thursday that more than 18 million developers, researchers and creators use Hugging Face to share more than 3 million models,

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the deal will allow the company to "expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide."

Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf launched the AI company Hugging Face in 2016. Now, a decade later, that venture has reached a deal to be acquired by computer chip powerhouse Nvidia—and the price tag on the sale, $12.93 billion, almost certainly exceeds what the trio first thought possible.

Nvidia said Hugging Face hosts over 3 million models and is used by over 18 million developers.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue join 'Squawk Box' to discuss Nvidia's deal to acquire Hugging Face for for $12.9 billion, how the deal came about, the importance of open models,

Nvidia has agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular marketplace for open-weight and open-source artificial-intelligence models, for $12.9 billion, said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Thursday.

The deal will see NVIDIA corner the market in both AI hardware and software.

Nvidia (NVDA) is buying AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion in a move that could extend Nvidia's reach in the AI ecosystem beyond being just a chip supplier. Futurum CEO Daniel Newman reacts to this headline news and what the acquisition of Hugging Face represents for Nvidia's growing market share of the AI landscape.

Nvidia, a chipmaking giant that is now the world’s most valuable firm, will buy Hugging Face for $13bn. The platform hosts millions of mostly “open” AI models, which users can download and modify. Last year Hugging Face rejected an investment at a $7bn valuation from Nvidia to maintain its independence.