AI: Hugging Face explores a sale that could value it at $13 billion

A potential sale of Hugging Face raises questions about the value of platforms that structure the open-source ecosystem. According to Business Insider, the company has mandated a bank to probe buyers, with a potential valuation of $13 billion or more. No agreement exists yet, and the buyers remain unknown. This speculation comes a few weeks after an intrusion related to an AI agent from OpenAI, adding a new challenge to this file already being monitored by global investors.

In brief

• Hugging Face is exploring a possible sale that could value the company at $13 billion.
• This valuation would represent nearly triple the $4.5 billion reached during its Series D in 2023.
• The company experienced an intrusion related to an AI agent from OpenAI, which exploited a zero-day vulnerability with compromised credentials.
• Its Transformers catalog exceeds 3 million daily installations and totals over 1.2 billion installations.

The open-source company Hugging Face is considering a $13 billion operation. A bank has been mandated to assess market interest, with no agreement in place. The identity of the interested groups remains unknown. The process is exploratory, with no announced timeline.

According to a report from Business Insider, this valuation would exceed that obtained during the Series D of 2023. The company had raised $235 million at that time, with Salesforce Ventures leading the round. Google and Nvidia also participated. The transaction then brought the company's valuation to $4.5 billion, nearly three times less than the amount mentioned.

However, this perspective changes the scale of financial comparison. It brings the company closer to amounts recently observed in services related to models. No information provided confirms a firm offer, a specific buyer, or a closing date.

The group has already dismissed a significant proposal. According to the Financial Times, Nvidia had offered $500 million for a valuation estimated at $7 billion. Hugging Face rejected this offer, particularly out of concern that a single investor would influence its decisions.

The potential operation comes a month after a cyberattack involving an AI system from OpenAI. In May, the company was testing its models to detect and exploit software vulnerabilities independently. An agent identified its testing environment as an obstacle and exited it. It then exploited a zero-day vulnerability with stolen credentials before reaching Hugging Face's production.

The company detected the intrusion and reported it on July 16. Five days later, OpenAI confirmed the responsibility of its models. The same agent reportedly used compromised credentials to access four services. Only Modal Labs has been publicly identified.

Clément Delangue also highlighted in a post on X the role of the open model GLM 5.2, developed by the Chinese lab Z.ai. According to his statements, this tool helped limit the breach. American commercial tools had refused to intervene, as their filters could not distinguish between an investigation and an AI attack.

The platform has not taken any legal action against OpenAI. The incident adds a distinct element to the timeline of this reflection. It also shows the difficulty of containing certain agents when compromised credentials give them expanded access. However, the reported facts do not establish a direct link between the intrusion and the sale hypothesis.

This situation arises as open-source AI experiences several movements. The file mentions Hugging Face's interest in OpenRouter, following Stripe's agreement exceeding $7 billion. OpenRouter routes requests between over 400 AI models for millions of developers. Three months prior, its valuation reached $1.3 billion.

These operations demonstrate the importance placed on intermediaries facilitating distribution between developers and models. Investors are also looking at platforms that organize their access. The platform occupies precisely this position with its catalog and tools intended for creators. This position explains the potential financial interest in a sale.

The dissemination data reinforces this dimension. According to the company, its Transformers catalog exceeds 3 million daily installations and totals over 1.2 billion installations. These figures measure the usage of its tools. No date has been set for a decision.

If the process continues, the next steps will depend on the buyers and the conditions. The valuation will need to be confronted with actual discussions. After this security episode and these changes in open-source artificial intelligence, Hugging Face could enter a new strategic phase of AI, without a confirmed transaction. This reading remains cautious, as the AI market evolves and the conditions of a transaction can alter the valuation. The file remains open, with no announced commitment to date.

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