DOJ Examines Nvidia’s Proposed Hugging Face Acquisition

The U.S. Department of Justice is examining whether Nvidia’s proposed acquisition of Hugging Face could give the chipmaker leverage over competitors in artificial intelligence, according to people familiar with the inquiry. Officials are asking whether the platform could become a key distribution point for AI models and whether the deal could harm rival companies. The inquiry concerns Nvidia’s planned purchase of the open-source AI platform for about $12.93 billion. Hugging Face hosts a community where developers and companies work with AI models, datasets and applications. Officials are also asking how the acquisition could affect Hugging Face’s competitors, according to people familiar with the questions. Nvidia has said it expects the acquisition to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. The company has also said Hugging Face will continue supporting a range of chip, cloud and AI providers after the deal. The proposed transaction has not been completed. Nvidia’s filing values the deal at $12.9303 billion, including about $11.9 billion for Hugging Face stockholders, subject to adjustments, and up to about $1 billion in...