US Justice Department is reportedly examining Nvidia's $12.9B Hugging Face deal

The US Department of Justice has started asking questions about Nvidia's planned acquisition of Hugging Face, according to a Reuters report published on October 28 and citing two people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg and CNBC later relayed or confirmed the report. Neither the DOJ nor Nvidia has confirmed it publicly, so the review should be treated as reported rather than official.

What the DOJ is reportedly asking

According to the coverage, officials want to know whether owning Hugging Face would let Nvidia control a central distribution point for AI models, and whether it could use the platform to disadvantage rival chipmakers and model developers. The questions are reportedly being asked as part of a broader, years-long DOJ investigation into Nvidia's conduct that began under the Biden administration. That probe covers the company's acquisitions, its stakes in other firms and its sales practices, including whether it pressures customers.

The reports describe an inquiry, not a formal challenge. They do not say whether the DOJ has issued a so-called second request, which would signal an in-depth merger review. As PYMNTS notes, an investigation is not evidence of wrongdoing and may not end in a lawsuit. Nvidia declined to comment, Hugging Face did not respond, and the DOJ cited its policy of not commenting on pending matters.

The deal and Nvidia's neutrality pledge

Nvidia announced the agreement on September 3. Reports put the total at about $12.9 billion: roughly $11.9 billion for the company plus an equity retention pool of up to $1 billion for staff who join Nvidia. Closing is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory clearances. It would be Nvidia's largest outright acquisition, ahead of Mellanox in 2019.

Hugging Face hosts millions of open models and datasets and works with hardware that competes with Nvidia's. Chief executive Jensen Huang has said the platform will stay open, and that Nvidia compute "will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face." Co-founder Clément Delangue and his team are expected to stay.

Wider scrutiny

The inquiry adds to other questions about Nvidia's dealmaking. Bloomberg reported in September that the DOJ was looking at whether Nvidia's $20 billion licensing and hiring arrangement with Groq was structured to avoid merger review. Nvidia also faces an antitrust investigation in France. Whether the Hugging Face review stays at the question stage or becomes a full investigation will likely depend on how regulators view the platform's role as a neutral hub for open-source AI.