Nvidia's potential Hugging Face deal shows how far it's moved from its GPU roots

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Let's rewind almost 180 years.You run a hardware store that does decent business when suddenly people start buying picks and shovels. Like, a lot of picks and shovels.Before you know it, business is booming. They're chasing gold, and they need your tools to find it. Not everyone succeeds, but that doesn't matter to you. You're selling the dream of a gold fortune, not chasing it.Then a thought creeps in: How can I get in on the action? Your picks-and-shovels business might be insulated from gold mining's risks, but it's also missing out on its biggest rewards. And besides, this run might not last forever.So you start selling maps of the gold mines. Build a barracks for prospectors to sleep in. Even lend some of them money. You're not technically mining, but you're getting awfully close.The questions then become: Are you building a business empire? Or just trying to keep the gold rush going?That's the debate surrounding Nvidia's ever-expanding business plans.Earlier this week, my colleagues Katie Roof, Geoff Weiss, and Ashley Stewart broke the news that Nvidia was in talks to acquire Hugging Face for more than $13 billion. (Katie also had the original scoop Sunday that Hugging Face was on the market.)Hugging Face is ground zero for open-source AI models. The platform hosts more than 2 million of them. With cheaper open models gaining traction, it makes sense for Nvidia to cozy up to those developers. (It's also already an investor in Hugging Face.)