The US Department of Justice is examining Nvidia's $12.93 billion acquisition of Hugging Face. The review focuses on competition in the AI sector and sits inside a broader look at Nvidia's business practices. No formal challenge has been publicly detailed.
The US Department of Justice is examining Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face, the AI platform that hosts open-source models. The deal is valued at $12.93 billion.
The inquiry sits inside a wider Nvidia review
The DOJ's inquiry was confirmed as of October 28, 2026. Its focus is how the acquisition could affect competition across the artificial intelligence sector.
However, this is not a standalone probe. The review is part of a broader examination of Nvidia's business practices, which already covered its licensing agreement with AI chip startup Groq as of September 2026.
Deal terms and timeline
Nvidia agreed to pay $11.9 billion to Hugging Face stockholders, plus up to $1 billion set aside for employee equity retention. The acquisition was announced on September 3, 2026.
As of October 28, 2026, no formal challenge or second request from regulators had been publicly detailed. An inquiry means regulators are asking questions, while a formal challenge would mean they are trying to stop or reshape the deal.
Nvidia expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2027, pending the necessary regulatory approvals.
Why Hugging Face matters to Nvidia
Founded in 2016, Hugging Face hosts 3 million open-source AI models and 500,000 datasets. It counts more than 18 million developers and 200,000 companies among its users.
Nvidia has said it intends to keep Hugging Face open and multi-cloud. Its executives argue that expanding the platform will widen access to open-weight AI models and speed up their development, and the company frames the deal as pro-competitive.
The open questions are whether the DOJ issues a second request and whether the Groq review and the Hugging Face review converge into a single case.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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