US DOJ Investigates NVIDIA's $12.9B Acquisition of Hugging Face Over GPU Bundling Concerns
The US Department of Justice has launched an antitrust probe into NVIDIA's proposed acquisition of Hugging Face, focusing on whether the deal allows NVIDIA to leverage its GPU dominance to lock in the AI software ecosystem.
According to reports from KuaiKeJi, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened an antitrust investigation into NVIDIA's proposed $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, the leading open-source AI model hosting platform. The probe focuses on whether this transaction, which would be NVIDIA's largest ever, allows the company to control a critical distribution node in the AI ecosystem.
Hugging Face serves as a central hub for the global open-source AI community, hosting over 18 million developers, 3 million models, and 500,000 datasets. Acquiring it effectively gives NVIDIA control over a major 'highway' for AI model distribution. While NVIDIA has promised to keep the platform open and free post-acquisition, with closing expected in the first half of 2027, regulators are scrutinizing the strategic implications.
This investigation is part of a broader, years-long antitrust review by the DOJ into NVIDIA's business practices. Investigators are specifically examining evidence that NVIDIA may have used scarce GPU allocations as leverage to force customers into accepting adjacent products, such as networking equipment or Groq processors. These allegations directly target NVIDIA's vertical integration strategy in AI infrastructure and potential bundling behaviors.