Hugging Face turned down a $500 million investment from Nvidia less than a year ago, back when that stake would have valued the company at $7 billion. Nvidia just agreed to buy the whole thing for nearly twice that. In Texas, a company that started out mining Bitcoin cleared a bureaucratic hurdle most investors have never heard of, and the stock jumped anyway.
Nvidia Confirms $12.9 Billion Acquisition of Hugging Face
Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) confirmed on September 3 that it will acquire Hugging Face, the open-source AI model and dataset repository, for approximately $12.93 billion, structured as roughly $11.9 billion in cash plus up to $1 billion in equity retention for staff. Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue told CNBC he approached Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang over the summer because he believed open-source AI in general was at the turning point, and that Hugging Face needed more than another minority investor to keep pace.
The deal follows Hugging Face turning down a $500 million investment from Nvidia less than a year earlier, an offer that would have valued the company at $7 billion. Hugging Face was reported to be generating approximately $150 million in annual revenue at the time of the deal, up from roughly $100 million two months earlier, and described by its CEO as close to profitability; the agreed price values the company at close to 90 times that revenue figure. The acquisition extends Nvidia’s reach beyond chips into the marketplace where AI models and datasets are hosted, discovered, and deployed, a form of vertical integration that could draw regulatory scrutiny given Nvidia’s dominant position in AI computing hardware. The deal is a definitive agreement, not yet closed, and remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, with no closing date disclosed.
IREN’s Sweetwater Hub Gains Conditional ERCOT Base Load Status
IREN Limited (Nasdaq: IREN) announced on September 8 that its 2GW Sweetwater Hub in West Texas has been conditionally included in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Batch Zero process as Base Load, a classification that treats the project as studied, credible grid demand rather than a speculative interconnection request. The hub combines the 1,400 megawatt Sweetwater 1 and 600 megawatt Sweetwater 2 projects and forms part of IREN’s announced global data center development portfolio exceeding 5 gigawatts. Shares rose more than 6% intraday following the announcement.
IREN’s high-voltage substation at Sweetwater 1 was energized on May 1, 2026, and construction of 300 megawatts of gross data center capacity is underway, with delivery targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027. IREN and ERCOT both describe the Base Load classification as conditional, subject to further verification steps before it becomes permanent, and additional large-scale projects in IREN’s pipeline entered the same Batch Zero review without being individually named. The process itself has drawn added scrutiny in Texas: Governor Greg Abbott directed state regulators on August 3 to verify and audit data centers advancing through the interconnection process, a directive that applies to Sweetwater and every other project moving through Batch Zero.
NVDA, IREN: Forward-Looking FAQ
No. The companies confirmed a definitive agreement on September 3, but the transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, and no closing date has been disclosed.
No. Both IREN and ERCOT describe the classification as conditional, subject to further verification steps, and Texas regulators have directed additional audits of data centers moving through the same Batch Zero process.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance: NVIDIA’s $12.93B Hugging Face Acquisition Becomes Definitive, September 3, 2026
- CNBC: Nvidia confirms $13 billion acquisition of open-weight AI platform Hugging Face, September 3, 2026
- CNN Business: Nvidia inks $13 billion deal to buy the AI startup that was hacked by OpenAI, September 3, 2026
- GlobeNewswire / The Manila Times: IREN’s 2GW Sweetwater Hub Included as Base Load in ERCOT Batch Zero, September 8, 2026
- GuruFocus / Yahoo Finance Canada: IREN Stock Rises 6% on a Conditional ERCOT Classification, September 8, 2026
- TheEnergyMag: IREN’s 2GW Sweetwater Hub Gets Conditional ERCOT Base Load Status, September 8, 2026
Editorial Disclosure
This roundup is based entirely on publicly available information including named wire service releases and financial news reporting. Securities discussed include Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) and IREN Limited (Nasdaq: IREN). aktiego.com has not received any compensation from any company, IR firm, or third party mentioned. No staff member or principal of aktiego.com holds a position in any security mentioned at the time of publication. Nvidia’s Hugging Face acquisition is a definitive agreement, not a completed transaction; it remains subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval, and the agreed price values Hugging Face at a substantial multiple of its reported revenue. IREN’s Sweetwater Hub classification is explicitly conditional and subject to further verification, and the interconnection process it is part of is subject to additional state regulatory audit. Small cap and micro-cap stocks listed on the CSE, TSX, TSXV, and Nasdaq are speculative investments carrying significant risk including potential total loss of capital. Coverage on aktiego.com is provided for informational and educational purposes only. aktiego.com is not a registered investment advisor. Nothing in this article constitutes financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For more information please see our full DISCLAIMER
