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The US Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into Nvidia's $12.93 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, assessing the deal's impact on AI competition, with the core focus being whether the transaction would give Nvidia control of a fundamental distribution point for AI models and software. Nvidia announced the acquisition on September 3, 2026, with consideration comprising approximately $11.9 billion in cash and up to $1 billion in employee retention equity incentives, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Hugging Face hosts more than 3 million AI models and 500,000 datasets, serving over 18 million developers and 200,000 enterprises. According to Reuters, the investigation focuses on whether Nvidia could expand its market power and squeeze out competitors by controlling this important distribution channel for AI models; no specific antitrust violation has been identified so far.
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US Department of Justice opens inquiry into Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face
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Oct 30
heise online
US Department of Justice reviews Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face
The US Department of Justice is reviewing Nvidia's plan to acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 billion; the deal was announced in September and is expected to close in the first half of 2027 after receiving regulatory approval. According to Reuters, the investigation focuses on whether Nvidia could expand its market power and squeeze out competitors by controlling this important distribution channel for AI models, and no specific antitrust violation has been identified so far. The Department of Justice is also continuing to investigate Nvidia's $17 billion deal with Groq, as well as its acquisitions of Run:ai and SchedMD.
Oct 29
The Decoder
US Department of Justice Reviews Nvidia's Hugging Face Acquisition and Sales Practices
The US Department of Justice is reviewing Nvidia's plan to acquire the open-source platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. Officials are asking whether the deal would give Nvidia control over a key hub for AI distribution and harm competitors. Nvidia expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2027. The same investigation also covers Nvidia's acquisitions, investments, and sales practices, as well as whether it exchanges more AI chips for customers also buying its networking equipment and Groq processors. It has previously examined the acquisitions of SchedMD and Run:ai and the licensing agreement with Groq. France's competition authority is also investigating Nvidia, focusing on the industry's dependence on CUDA and its stakes in cloud providers such as CoreWeave.
21ic Electronics NetworkSelected
US Department of Justice Opens Inquiry into Nvidia's $12.9 Billion Acquisition of Hugging Face
The US Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into Nvidia's $12.93 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, assessing the deal's impact on AI competition, with the core focus being whether the transaction would give Nvidia control of a fundamental distribution point for AI models and software. Nvidia announced the acquisition on September 3, 2026, with consideration including approximately $11.9 billion in cash and up to $1 billion in employee retention equity incentives, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Hugging Face hosts more than 3 million AI models and 500,000 datasets, serving over 18 million developers and 200,000 enterprises.
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