Why Nvidia’s Buying AI Platform Hugging Face for $13 Billion

[MUSIC] In video is buying AI platform hugging face, turbocharging its backing of open-weight AI models that pose a threat to open AI and anthropic. Plus, for Republicans testing the waters for a 2028 presidential run, could President Trump's endorsement help or hurt them? He thinks a lot about who will carry and hold the MAGA legacy that he created. And feminist icon Gloria Steinem has died at 92. It's Thursday, September 3. I'm Alex Osalof for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News that hop headlines and business stories that move the world today. [MUSIC] In video has agreed to buy AI startup hugging face in a deal worth about $13 billion. Listeners might remember hearing about hugging face earlier this summer, when it was the target of a hack by an open AI model that went rogue. But hugging face's business is to be a hub for open source AI, the kind of AI model that developers can download and customize. Unlike the proprietary models from companies like Anthropic and Open AI, millions of developers, engineers, and researchers use hugging face. Journal reporter Robbie Wheelan says it's part of Nvidia's push beyond the chips that powered the AI boom. We've seen almost $20 billion in deals in video to encourage the development of open models in the last month alone. What it's going to mean is more options for US companies, US people, and really for companies and people around the world. Because while there's been a rapid rise of open AI models developed in China, Robbie says US officials have security concerns about them. There's also this blockage in terms of who gets to use the most powerful chips Nvidia is blocked from sending their best chips to China. If they're developing those open models in the US, then we could have high quality open models being trained on the highest quality Nvidia chips right here in America. And what that would mean is that eventually we're going to have much cheaper, much more accessible AI tools for American businesses and for American consumers to use. In markets, US stocks rose across the board today with all three major indexes gaining more than 1%, and both short-term and long-term treasury yields fell. After Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support holding great steady at the Fed's meeting later this month. At a Reuters event today, he said that his position depends on what we learn about how inflation turned out in August. Recent data suggests we are finally seeing some signs of disinflation. Now if this continues in the data over the next two weeks, I would be inclined to support holding the target for the federal funds rate at its current setting. But Waller pointed to uncertainty over how issues like military conflicts, trade policy and artificial intelligence would influence the economy. If inflation comes in hot for August, he said he would consider a rate hike. In other central banking news, the Dutch central bank has shifted $11 billion worth of gold from vaults beneath the streets of Manhattan to London. It said that because of growing geopolitical unrest, having the metal closer would make it easier to trade in a pinch. The high security operation took several months to pull off and involved the central bank selling in New York and buying in London, as well as transferring 27 tons of gold to the UK via its own vaults in the Netherlands. The Dutch central bank didn't reveal how it shuttle the gold around. Fox News has parted ways with longtime anchor Maria Barter-Romo. The network says that, "effective today, the journalist is no longer with Fox News media." Barter-Romo was one of the highest profile personalities at Fox News, and she was known in recent years for her staunch advocacy for President Trump and his administration. She'd been with Fox since 2014, but hasn't appeared on Fox News or Fox Business for almost a month. She didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox Corp and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp share common ownership. Coming up, the latest news from Washington, including what our White House reporter learned about the 2028 presidential race from a recent trip to Iowa. That's after the break. We're still two years away from 2028, the year of the next presidential election. And there's still a midterm election that needs to happen this year. But whispers are already beginning about who the Republican presidential candidates might be, and where President Trump will land on an endorsement. For more, I'm joined now by WSJ White House correspondent Natalie Andrews. So, Natalie, no Republican has actually declared their candidacy yet, but some of the names being tossed around are Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Among these three, do we have a sense of who Trump wants? We know that Donald Trump likes to play a game where he says, "What do you guys think? JD Vance or Marco Rubio? And who should be on the top of the ticket?" You know, this is a guy that hosted the apprentice. He also thinks a lot about who will carry and hold the MAGA legacy that he created. His endorsement will matter. It will just depend on what voters want for the future. Well, it's funny you say that because just yesterday, Cruz said something about President Trump's endorsement on businessman Patrick Bett David's podcast. There is no question that President Trump's endorsement is enormously consequential. It carries a great deal of weight. I don't think it will be decisive in the presidential race. It carries weight, but I think the voters are going to make their own determination. So, Natalie, does it seem like Cruz is trying to cozy up to Trump or distance himself? I think Ted Cruz is acknowledging that it's probably going to be a crowded primary, and he isn't the vice president. He's not the secretary of state. So, if Donald Trump can only choose one guy, there's a chance it might not be him, and he's going to put the leg work in Iowa and such if he runs to make that less of an issue. Speaking of Iowa, you were there recently. I went to Iowa for Senate candidate Ashley Henson's big barbecue bash. There were a thousand people in the room, and I can tell you they were so excited to talk about 2028, which is fun. Usually, when you go to events, they'll say, "Oh, we want to talk about the midterm first." And this is a group in Iowa Republicans. They know they have a role in choosing the presidential candidate, and they take it very seriously. I talked to dozens of people. Everybody mentioned JD Vance and Marco Rubio, but then people would bring up Ted Cruz. They'd bring up Sarah Huckabee Sanders. They'd talk about Ron DeSantis, and almost all said that they want a primary. They don't want someone who's anointed. But President Trump's endorsement does carry some weight. Next week, the Republican Party is having a rare midterm convention in Dallas, and you'll be going. Trump also has a starring role. Have we learned anything from the primaries so far about what a Trump endorsement really means for candidates? By and large, Donald Trump's endorsement helped candidates through primaries, but he wasn't 100%. The Iowa gubernatorial race is a good example. "Zack Lane," who didn't have Donald Trump's endorsement, won the primary Randy Feenstra, the guy who did, wasn't running as fulsome of the campaign and lost. From talking to people about Dallas, it's probably going to feel like a two-day-long Trump rally instead of a midterm convention. Which is very interesting, because Donald Trump's approval rating is the lowest it's ever been in many polls. But I've talked to a lot of Republicans who are in tough races, and they're dancing with the guy that brought them there. WSJ White House correspondent Natalie Andrews, thanks so much, and we'll see you in Dallas. Thank you. In other political news, Leon Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, is suing the House Oversight Committee that's probing his ties with Jeffrey Epstein. Black was one of Epstein's biggest financial clients, and the committee subpoenaed Black over non-disclosure agreements with women. In the complaint, Black says that the panel overstepped its authority by asking him about NDAs that weren't related to Epstein. He's turned over one NDA he reached with a former girlfriend where Epstein played a consulting role, but he declined to provide NDAs with other women. Black has said he didn't know about Epstein's crimes, that he'd never abused a woman, and that he wasn't blackmailed by Epstein. Speaking to reporters, the committee chair, Republican representative James Comer, said that the unexpected lawsuit has raised questions about what Congress could do next. And the journal has learned that the Justice Department has charged an immigration officer with lying about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis in January. A grand jury indicted 52-year-old ice officer Christian Castro on charges of making false statements to investigators. It's the first time the Justice Department has successfully charged an ice officer for their actions during the Trump administration's immigration surge in the Twin Cities. It hasn't brought criminal charges against any of the officers over the shooting themselves, which officials say are still under investigation. And finally, Gloria Steinem, who was for decades a symbol of the women's movement, has died. She was 92 years old. Steinem first got to know the women's movement as a journalist covering it in the 1960s. Then in 1971, she co-founded Miz Magazine, which became known for its coverage of subjects that were typically only spoken about quietly, domestic violence, homosexuality, and abortion. This was at a time when women weren't always permitted to open a bank account or get a credit card without their husband's permission. In 1973, Steinem told the BBC that Miz Magazine started in desperation. The kind of foundation of this magazine and makes it different from others is that it simply considers that women are human beings. That doesn't sound very revolutionary, but it is, because the other magazines are still arguing about it. From there, Steinem became an organizer. She lobbied for causes like the Equal Rights Amendment. She remained active through her 80s, including an appearance at the 2017 Women's March in Washington, D.C. "We are united here for bodily integrity." The day after President Trump, who had bragged about groping women, first took office. "We are here and around the world for a deep democracy that says we will not be quiet. We will not be controlled. We will work for a world in which all countries are connected. God may be in the details, but the goddess is in connections." And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Danny Lewis and Alexis Moore, with supervising producer Tally Arbell. I'm Alex O'Sulliff for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.