US antitrust enforcers scrutinise Nvidia's multibillion-dollar Hugging Face deal
According to Reuters, the Justice Department wants to know whether the AI platform would let Nvidia control a key distribution point for AI and disadvantage rivals.
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The US Justice Department is examining Nvidia's planned acquisition of AI platform Hugging Face, Reuters news agency reported. Antitrust officials are asking whether the deal would let the chipmaker capture a fundamental distribution point for AI and whether it could use the platform against competitors. Reuters cited two people familiar with the matter.
Nvidia agreed in early September to buy Hugging Face for around $12.9 billion. Developers around the world share open AI models and datasets on the platform. Nvidia has pledged to keep it open; the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. The department declined to comment, citing its usual policy, Nvidia declined to comment and Hugging Face did not respond.
The questions are part of a longer-running investigation into Nvidia that began under President Joe Biden. It covers acquisitions, stakes in other companies and how Nvidia sells its chips. It was reported in September that the department is also examining the $20 billion deal with chip start-up Groq, in which Nvidia licensed the company's technology and hired its top executives instead of buying it. Nvidia also faces an antitrust investigation in France.