DOJ questions Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face

Nvidia, which sells AI chips, is facing Justice Department questions about its $12.93 billion purchase of Hugging Face, an open-source platform for sharing AI models, according to two people familiar with the matter. Department officials have asked whether the acquisition would let Nvidia capture a fundamental distribution point for artificial intelligence, the people said.

Nvidia said in a September 3 filing that it expects the transaction to complete in the first half of 2027, pending required clearances. The filing lists a purchase price of about $11.9 billion to be paid to Hugging Face stockholders, plus up to $1.0 billion in equity retention for employees who move to Nvidia. The combined figure is about $12.9 billion, in line with the $12.93 billion reported by Reuters.

In the filing, Nvidia said it has committed to keep Hugging Face's platform open, consistent with existing practices, including letting model makers and users upload and download models of their choosing and supporting other silicon vendors.

The Hugging Face questions are part of a years-long Justice Department examination of Nvidia's conduct that began under former President Joe Biden and has continued under President Donald Trump, Reuters reported, citing the two people. The department's recent questioning also spans Nvidia's purchases, investments, sales tactics, and whether it has pressured customers, the people said. Nvidia has the biggest share of the market for AI chips that power tools like ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, Reuters reported.

As part of the probe, the DOJ has examined Nvidia's acquisition of SchedMD, an open-source software company, and looked at Run:ai, whose software helps AI chips operate more efficiently, the people told Reuters. Officials have also scrutinized Nvidia's 2025 arrangement to license technology from Groq and bring on its engineers, the people said.

Regarding the Hugging Face deal, officials are asking whether Nvidia could use the platform to disadvantage rivals or gain negotiating power, the people said. The officials are also asking about Hugging Face's competitors.

A DOJ spokesperson would not comment on pending matters, citing department policy, and said the department considers it inappropriate to run a merger investigation disguised as a conduct investigation. Nvidia would not comment, and Hugging Face did not reply to a request for comment, according to Reuters. Reuters noted that probes do not prove misconduct and may not lead to litigation, and that this probe may not result in Justice Department action.