US Department of Justice Investigates Nvidia's Agreement with Hugging Face

The US Department of Justice has begun investigating the effects of Nvidia's attempt to acquire the open-source platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion on competition in the artificial intelligence market. According to sources close to the matter, this inquiry forms part of a broader antitrust investigation targeting the chipmaker.

According to information provided by two sources, Department of Justice officials are investigating whether the acquisition in question would grant Nvidia a key distribution point in the artificial intelligence field. It was stated that the review covers Nvidia's acquisitions, investments, sales practices, and whether it exerts pressure on customers. While the deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, Nvidia noted that Hugging Face will continue to work with various chip, cloud, and artificial intelligence providers.

The review is being conducted as part of a broader Nvidia investigation that began during the Joe Biden administration and continues under the Donald Trump administration. Within the scope of the investigation, the ministry has also examined the SchedMD acquisition, the technology licensing and engineer transfer agreement made with Groq, and the Run:ai acquisition. While a Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment due to agency policy, Nvidia declined to comment on the matter, and Hugging Face left inquiries unanswered.