The US Department of Justice is asking questions about Nvidia's planned $12.93 billion purchase of Hugging Face, the open platform where developers share and download AI models. Reuters reported the inquiry on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter, and CNBC confirmed the probe with one person familiar with it.
The questions are part of a wider, years-long look at how Nvidia does business. Reuters says the DOJ's recent questioning "covers Nvidia's acquisitions, investments, sales practices, and whether the chip designer has exerted pressure on its customers." Reuters notes that "Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in lawsuits."
What the DOJ is asking about Hugging Face
According to the two people Reuters spoke to, Justice Department officials have asked "whether the deal would let Nvidia capture a fundamental distribution point for AI." The same sources say the questions include "how Nvidia might use the AI platform to harm rivals in the AI market, and whether Nvidia could use the newly acquired business to gain leverage." Officials are also asking about Hugging Face's competitors, Reuters reports.
That framing is the core of the story. Nvidia has the biggest share of the market for AI chips, Reuters notes. CNBC describes Hugging Face as a widely used, open-source platform for hosting and testing AI models. When Nvidia announced the deal in September, Nvidia said in a press statement that more than 18 million people and more than 200,000 companies reportedly used Hugging Face to share at least 3 million models and 500,000 datasets, according to CNBC. CNBC adds that Hugging Face also sells infrastructure and collaboration tools to organizations working with closed, proprietary AI, including chip companies.
The worry the DOJ appears to be testing is simple to state: a company that makes the hardware could also own a main route that models take to reach developers. Whether that would actually hurt rivals is the open question, and nothing in the reports says the DOJ has reached a view.
Nvidia has said the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, and that Hugging Face would continue to support work with a range of chip, cloud and AI providers, per Reuters. Nvidia declined to comment to both Reuters and CNBC. Hugging Face representatives did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
For background on the deal itself, see our earlier post, Nvidia Agrees to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 Billion. If you are new to the platform, our explainer What Is Hugging Face? covers what it does.
The other Nvidia deals in the inquiry
Hugging Face is not the only deal under review. Reuters' sources named three more:
- Groq. The DOJ has scrutinized Nvidia's conduct after its 2025 deal to license technology from chip startup Groq and hire its engineers. Officials "have explored whether Nvidia unfairly offered larger allocations of AI chips if customers purchased its networking equipment and Groq processors," Reuters reports. In other words, the question is whether Nvidia used demand for its main product to push buyers toward a newer one. CNBC says Nvidia paid $20 billion for Groq assets at the end of last year, which makes Hugging Face its second-biggest purchase. Groq did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
- SchedMD. The DOJ has examined Nvidia's December 2025 purchase of SchedMD, one of the people told Reuters. That deal raised concerns among AI specialists about continued access to SchedMD's open-source software, which helps run supercomputers relevant to national security. Nvidia has vowed to continue open access and support, according to Reuters.
- Run:ai. The DOJ has also looked at Nvidia's acquisition of Run:ai, which makes software that helps AI chips run more efficiently, the people said.
What the DOJ said
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on any matters before the department, citing longstanding policy. The spokesperson added: "This DOJ under President Trump's leadership will continue to prioritize advancement of Super Intelligence for the betterment of the American people." The spokesperson also said, "It would be inappropriate for the Department to conduct a merger investigation under the guise of a conduct investigation." Super Intelligence is the administration's term for AI under a September executive order.
Reuters reports that the broad Nvidia examination started under former President Joe Biden and has continued under President Donald Trump. It says there is no indication that Trump has any involvement, and that the probe may not result in any Justice Department action. Reuters also notes that staff-led DOJ investigations often take years, and that the DOJ routinely seeks input from companies when it evaluates proposed mergers.
Why it matters for people who use open models
For developers and researchers, Hugging Face is a place to share and download models and datasets. The DOJ's reported questions are about what it would mean for the company with the biggest share of the AI chip market to own that hub.
Nothing changes for Hugging Face users today. The deal has not closed, and an inquiry is not a ruling. The practical things to watch are:
- whether the DOJ escalates from questions to a formal challenge before the expected 2027 close
- whether Nvidia offers formal commitments about keeping Hugging Face open to other chip and cloud providers, beyond the statement it has already made
- whether the reported questions about Groq chip allocations turn into a separate case
The comparison CNBC draws is GitHub, the code hosting site Microsoft bought in 2018 for $7.5 billion, which it calls the closest comparable to Hugging Face's business. The difference this time is that the buyer has the biggest share of the market for AI chips, per Reuters. For our argument on what written neutrality terms should cover, see our opinion piece, Nvidia's Hugging Face deal needs binding terms.
