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# DOJ reportedly makes inquiries about Nvidia's $12.9 billion Hugging Face deal
- URL: https://theainewsfiles.com/doj-inquiries-nvidia-hugging-face-deal/
- Published: 2026-10-31T08:59:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-31T08:59:23.000Z
- Description: Reuters reports that the US Justice Department has asked how Nvidia's Hugging Face purchase could affect competition in AI. CNBC says it confirmed the probe with its own source. Nvidia declined to comment.
- Author: J E Cowie
- Tags: News

On Wednesday 28 October, Reuters reported that the US Department of Justice has been asking questions about Nvidia's planned purchase of Hugging Face. Reuters cited two people familiar with the matter, according to TNW. PYMNTS, which also relayed the report, describes its sources as unnamed. CNBC says it has confirmed the probe with a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Here is what has been reported, who said it, and what is still only a claim.

## What the reports say

The Verge, summarising Reuters, says the Justice Department has "made inquiries" about the $13 billion deal, including how it could affect competition in the AI industry. CNBC puts it as the department having asked Nvidia for information about how the acquisition could affect competitors.

According to TNW's account of the Reuters report, officials want to know whether the deal would let Nvidia "capture a fundamental distribution point for AI". They also want to know whether Nvidia could use Hugging Face to hurt rivals. That wording comes from Reuters' sources as TNW relays it. It is not a statement from the department. Other outlets paraphrase it, with Tom's Hardware speaking of control of a key distribution point.

Heise, relaying Reuters, says investigators are also interested in Hugging Face's own competitors.

Nvidia declined to comment, according to CNBC, Tom's Hardware and TNW. TNW also reports that the Justice Department declined to comment, citing long-standing policy, and that Hugging Face did not respond. TNW adds that the department said it "will continue to prioritize advancement of Super Intelligence".

PYMNTS reports Reuters saying that an investigation is not evidence of wrongdoing and may not result in lawsuits.

## The deal itself

PYMNTS reports that Nvidia co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang announced on 3 September that the company had agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. Reuters' figure is $12.93 billion, which Channel Insider and Heise both use. The difference is rounding. CNBC says the deal is Nvidia's second-biggest purchase.

TNW and Tom's Hardware both report that the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027\. Heise adds that closing is subject to regulatory approval. Until then, it is an announced deal, not a completed one.

CNBC describes Hugging Face as running a widely used open-source platform for hosting and testing AI models, which also sells infrastructure and collaboration tools to the tech industry. Heise cites Nvidia's own figures: more than 18 million people and over 200,000 companies using the platform, which hosts more than three million models and 500,000 datasets; Channel Insider gives the same user and company figures and says the platform hosts millions of models and datasets. Those are Nvidia's numbers, not an independent count.

![The US Department of Justice headquarters building, exterior](https://theainewsfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/shot2_the-us-department-of-justice-headquarter.jpg)

The US Department of Justice headquarters.

## What Nvidia has promised

At the announcement, PYMNTS reports, Huang said: "Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem." He added: "Nvidia compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face." PYMNTS also reports, citing Reuters, that Nvidia has said Hugging Face would keep working with a variety of chip, cloud and AI companies after the acquisition.

Those are Nvidia's commitments, made before the inquiry was reported. The reports don't say how the Justice Department views those assurances.

## One strand of a wider investigation

The Hugging Face questions sit inside a longer inquiry. PYMNTS, citing Reuters, says the department's wider investigation into Nvidia's conduct began under the Biden administration and has continued under the Trump administration. It has covered Nvidia's other acquisitions, investments and sales practices, and whether Nvidia pressures its customers.

The reports also point to other deals:

- **Groq:** CNBC says Nvidia paid $20 billion for Groq assets at the end of last year and that the deal has also attracted DOJ scrutiny. TNW gives the same figure but says Nvidia licensed Groq's technology and hired its top executives rather than buying the company. Heise, relaying Reuters, puts the Groq deal at $17 billion. The accounts differ on both the figure and how the deal was structured.
- **Reflection AI:** TNW says Nvidia is in talks with Reflection AI, a maker of open AI models it already backs, about a takeover or a bigger investment. PYMNTS says Bloomberg has reported that Nvidia has considered a deal with the company.
- **Other acquisitions and customer practices:** Heise says Reuters reports that investigators are also looking at Nvidia's purchases of Run:ai and SchedMD. It says they are examining whether Nvidia offered customers larger quantities of its AI chips if they also bought its networking equipment and Groq processors.

## What to take from it

This is a reported inquiry, sourced to unnamed people. The Justice Department and Nvidia both declined to comment on it, though the department gave a general statement about its AI priorities. What officials are reportedly asking comes from Reuters' sources, as relayed by other outlets. The deal is announced but not closed, and the open-platform pledges are Nvidia's own. Heise notes that no specific antitrust violations have been established so far.

## Sources

Abdullahi, A. (2026) 'Nvidia's $12.9B Hugging Face Deal Faces DOJ Antitrust Scrutiny', Channel Insider, 30 October 2026, available at: [https://www.channelinsider.com/ai/news-nvidia-hugging-face-acquisition-doj-antitrust-scrutiny/](https://www.channelinsider.com/ai/news-nvidia-hugging-face-acquisition-doj-antitrust-scrutiny/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

Bezmalinović, T. (2026) 'Hugging Face deal: DOJ probes Nvidia's expansion strategy', heise online, 30 October 2026, available at: [https://www.heise.de/en/news/Hugging-Face-deal-DOJ-probes-Nvidia-s-expansion-strategy-11506261.html](https://www.heise.de/en/news/Hugging-Face-deal-DOJ-probes-Nvidia-s-expansion-strategy-11506261.html?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

CNBC (2026) 'Nvidia's $12.9 billion Hugging Face deal draws DOJ scrutiny', CNBC, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/28/doj-questions-nvidias-12point9-billion-hugging-face-deal.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/28/doj-questions-nvidias-12point9-billion-hugging-face-deal.html?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

Haslam, O. (2026) 'Dept of Justice reportedly probes Nvidia over $13 billion Hugging Face AI platform acquisition — concerns raised over competition in AI and pressure on customers', Tom's Hardware, 29 October 2026, available at: [https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/dept-of-justice-reportedly-probes-nvidia-over-usd13-billion-hugging-face-ai-platform-acquisition-concerns-raised-over-competition-in-ai-and-pressure-on-customers](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/dept-of-justice-reportedly-probes-nvidia-over-usd13-billion-hugging-face-ai-platform-acquisition-concerns-raised-over-competition-in-ai-and-pressure-on-customers?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

PYMNTS (2026) 'DOJ Probes Nvidia's Hugging Face Deal Over AI Competition Concerns', PYMNTS.com, 29 October 2026, available at: [https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2026/doj-probes-nvidias-hugging-face-deal-over-ai-competition-concerns/](https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2026/doj-probes-nvidias-hugging-face-deal-over-ai-competition-concerns/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

Reuters (2026) 'US DOJ is inquiring about Nvidia's purchase of Hugging Face, sources say', Reuters, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://www.reuters.com/world/us-doj-is-inquiring-about-nvidias-purchase-hugging-face-sources-say-2026-10-28/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-doj-is-inquiring-about-nvidias-purchase-hugging-face-sources-say-2026-10-28/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Not read directly; cited via the reports listed here).

Roth, E. (2026) 'The DOJ is reportedly looking into Nvidia's Hugging Face acquisition.', The Verge, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/1021355/the-doj-is-reportedly-looking-into-nvidias-hugging-face-acquisition](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1021355/the-doj-is-reportedly-looking-into-nvidias-hugging-face-acquisition?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

TNW (2026) 'DOJ looks into Nvidia's $12.9B Hugging Face deal, Reuters reports', TNW, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://thenextweb.com/news/doj-nvidia-hugging-face-deal-antitrust-inquiry](https://thenextweb.com/news/doj-nvidia-hugging-face-deal-antitrust-inquiry?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 31 October 2026).

## Picture credits

- Top picture: Nvidia's headquarters. Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face in September. Image: Nvidia campus aerial, Dicklyon, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) ([Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nvidia%5Fcampus%5Faerial.jpg?ref=theainewsfiles.com))
- The US Department of Justice headquarters. US Department of Justice headquarters (Robert F. Kennedy Building), photo by Coolcaesar, [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/?ref=theainewsfiles.com), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S.%5FDepartment%5Fof%5FJustice%5Fheadquarters,%5FAugust%5F12,%5F2006.jpg?ref=theainewsfiles.com)