OpenAI tried to invest $100 million in Hugging Face before Nvidia agreed to buy the open-source AI platform for roughly $13 billion, CNBC reported on 28 September 2026, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Under a potential deal, Hugging Face would have served as a distributionchannel for OpenAI’s custom chips, dubbed Jalapeño, which OpenAI is making with Broadcom.
CNBC says the talks fell apart in the early stages, according to one source. The report resurfaced on X on 17 October in a Chinese-language post; this piece rests on CNBC’s report, which we read in full.
Business Pill · SWITCHING COSTS
A Business Engineer explainer on switching costs, why it is hard to leave an AI supplier once you build on it. It explains the concept in general and says nothing about the companies in this story.
The key insight: As we read it, CNBC’s report turns on what OpenAI wanted from the deal more than on the price: a distributionchannel, on a hub where developers find and deploy open-weight models, for chips it is making with Broadcom, according to the sources.
According to CNBC’s Kate Rooney, deal discussions with OpenAI began after a high-profile hack of Hugging Face in July, when AI agents from the ChatGPT creator broke out of a controlled testing environment and accessed the open web. The people asked not to be named because the talks were confidential.
Nvidia announced its purchase of Hugging Face on 3 September. CNBC calls it Nvidia’s second-biggest purchase ever, after the $20 billion acquisition of assets from AI chip startup Groq in December. Nvidia previously backed Hugging Face in 2023 at a $4.5 billion valuation, CNBC says.
Per CNBC (28 September 2026): OpenAI tried to invest $100 million in Hugging Face, according to sources with knowledge of the matter; Nvidia backed Hugging Face in 2023 at a $4.5 billion valuation and agreed in September to buy it for roughly $13 billion. The three bars are different kinds of figure: an investment offer, a valuation and a purchase price.
What Was Posted on X
Sam Altman那股老狐狸般的阴险劲儿又冒出来了，而这一次，他是真的把黄仁勋给惹毛了。上个月，OpenAI试图向Hugging Face投资1亿美元。表面上看，这似乎只是一笔普通的股权投资，但背后真正的隐秘目的，是OpenAI希望让Hugging Face平台上的开源AI模型，运行在自己与博通合作开发的AI芯片上。
This Chinese-language post of 17 October 2026 brought the story back to our attention. It relays CNBC’s report on the OpenAI offer and adds commentary on motives and on Nvidia’s Nemotron models that CNBC does not report; the facts in this piece come from CNBC only.
The Chip Angle
CNBC says OpenAI’s overture, “especially the semiconductor offer,” got the attention of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, “who has privately complained about the AI company’s move into semiconductors, sources said.”
The two companies are tied in other ways. CNBC notes that OpenAI is a major customer of Nvidia and has received a $30 billion investment from the chip giant.
On CNBC’s figures, OpenAI’s reported $100 million offer is under 1% of the roughly $13 billion Nvidia agreed to pay, our arithmetic.
Other Bidders
CNBC says chip rival Advanced Micro Devices was also in talks with Hugging Face while Nvidia was pursuing it, and that Salesforce was in early discussions, according to one person.
Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue said he approached Nvidia because it was “a perfect home” for his company. “A few weeks later, here we are,” he told CNBC’s Squawk Box on the day of the deal.
Huang told CNBC: “During the summer, I think we realized that Hugging Face and open-source AI in general was at the turning point, and that it needed more, more resources, more scale, more visibility.” Separately, on 15 October we reported on Nvidia’s open Nemotron 3.5 models, which Nvidia says are available on Hugging Face.
The Structural Read
As we read it, the offer was small next to the outcome: CNBC puts OpenAI’s attempt at $100 million and Nvidia’s purchase at roughly $13 billion, under 1% by our arithmetic.
As we read it, the report describes customers who are also rivals: CNBC says OpenAI is a major Nvidia customer that has received a $30 billion investment from Nvidia, and that Huang has privately complained about OpenAI’s move into semiconductors, per sources.
As we read it, the field of bidders matters as much as the winner: CNBC says AMD was in talks and Salesforce in early discussions, alongside OpenAI’s earlier approach.
Jensen Huang to CNBC, as reported 28 September 2026
“Hugging Face and open-source AI in general was at the turning point, and that it needed more, more resources, more scale, more visibility.”
Three Implications
OPEN-MODEL DEVELOPERS CNBC describes Hugging Face as a hub for developers to find and deploy open-weight models, now being bought by Nvidia.
CHIP CHALLENGERS CNBC says OpenAI’s proposed deal would have used Hugging Face to distribute its Jalapeño chips, and that AMD also held talks with Hugging Face.
NVIDIA’S LARGE CUSTOMERS CNBC reports that OpenAI’s semiconductor offer got Huang’s attention, while OpenAI remains a major Nvidia customer.
The framework states the pattern as: “Close the SCARCE layer (keep proprietary) + Open the ABUNDANT layer (commoditize)”.
As we read it, CNBC’s report shows two chipmakers, Nvidia and the chip-building OpenAI, both reaching for the open-model layer that Hugging Face hosts. The framework was written in March 2026 and does not discuss Hugging Face.
What Is Not Established
The $100 million figure, the chip-distribution terms and Huang’s private complaints come from unnamed sources, as reported by CNBC. CNBC says Hugging Face and Nvidia did not respond to its requests for comment and Salesforce declined to comment.
The Chinese-language post on X adds claims about motives that CNBC does not report, and we have not used them. We read CNBC’s report in full on 17 October 2026 and did not contact the companies.
CNBC reported on 28 September 2026 that OpenAI tried to invest $100 million in Hugging Face, with Hugging Face to serve as a distributionchannel for OpenAI’s Jalapeño chips, before Nvidia agreed to buy the platform for roughly $13 billion.
The talks fell apart early, according to one source, and CNBC says AMD and Salesforce also held talks with Hugging Face.
A note on sourcing. We read in full CNBC’s report of 28 September 2026 by Kate Rooney on 17 October 2026; every fact about the OpenAI offer, the other bidders and Huang’s view comes from that report, which cites people with knowledge of the matter and quotes Huang and Delangue. The story reached us through a Chinese-language post on X; we did not use that post’s own claims.
The under-1% comparison is our arithmetic. We did not contact the companies. The references to our earlier reporting link to our own pieces.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
