The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is examining Nvidia's planned $12.93 billion acquisition of open-source artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face, asking whether the deal could harm competition in the fast-growing AI market, according to Reuters, which first reported the inquiry on 28 October 2026, citing two people familiar with the matter. CNBC later confirmed the inquiry with its own source.
At the heart of the inquiry is a simple question: would owning Hugging Face give Nvidia control over a key distribution point for AI? Hugging Face runs a widely used hub where developers, researchers and companies host, share and test open-source AI models, datasets and tools. According to Nvidia's own announcement, more than 18 million users and over 200,000 companies use the platform to share at least 3 million models and 500,000 datasets.
DOJ officials have reportedly asked whether Nvidia could use that platform as leverage in commercial negotiations, disadvantage rival chipmakers, or make life harder for competing model repositories. The questions also cover Nvidia's broader conduct — its acquisitions, investments and sales practices, and whether it has pressured customers — as part of a years-long antitrust examination of the chip designer.
Nvidia announced the agreement to buy Hugging Face on 3 September 2026. Chief executive Jensen Huang said at the time that the platform would remain open to third-party processors, frameworks and cloud services, and would help expand AI access for developers and institutions worldwide. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, and Nvidia has repeated that Hugging Face would continue to support work with a range of chip, cloud and AI providers.
It is important to be clear about what this inquiry is — and is not. Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing, and they do not necessarily lead to lawsuits. The DOJ has said it does not discuss pending matters, Nvidia declined to comment, and Hugging Face representatives did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The scrutiny fits a wider pattern. The DOJ has previously examined other Nvidia transactions, including its 2025 licensing deal with AI chip startup Groq and its acquisition of Run:ai, which makes software that helps AI chips run more efficiently. Officials have also explored whether Nvidia offered larger chip allocations to customers who also bought its networking equipment and Groq processors.
Why does this matter beyond one deal? Nvidia has become a cornerstone of the AI economy: its chips power much of the world's AI training and computing, and it has backed major players such as Anthropic and OpenAI while driving data-centre development globally. If regulators decide that owning the main hub where AI models are shared gives it too much influence over rivals, any action could ripple through the chip industry and reshape Nvidia's acquisition strategy. For now, though, the deal remains on track — and the DOJ's questions are exactly that: questions, not a verdict.
Sources: Reuters (first report), CNBC, Yonhap Infomax.
--- Urdu version (Roman Urdu) ---
America ki Department of Justice (DOJ) Nvidia ke Hugging Face ko $12.93 billion mein khareedne ke mansube ki jaanch kar rahi hai. Reuters ke mutabiq, jo is khabar ko 28 October 2026 ko pehle report kiya, DOJ yeh dekh raha hai ke kya yeh deal artificial intelligence ki market mein muqable ko nuqsan pohuncha sakti hai. CNBC ne bhi apne zariye se is jaanch ki tasdeeq ki hai.
Asal sawal yeh hai: kya Hugging Face ka malik banne se Nvidia ko AI ki taqseem ke aik ahem markaz par qabza mil jayega? Hugging Face aik mashhoor platform hai jahan developers, researchers aur companies open-source AI models, datasets aur tools share aur test karte hain. Nvidia ke mutabiq, 18 million se zyada users aur 200,000 se zyada companies is platform par 30 lakh se zyada models aur 5 lakh datasets share karti hain.
DOJ ke ohdedaron ne poocha hai ke kya Nvidia is platform ko tijarati mazakraat mein dabao ke tor par istemal kar sakta hai, ya hareef chip banane wali companies ko nuqsan pohuncha sakta hai. Yeh jaanch Nvidia ke doosre saudon aur tareeqon par bhi phaili hui hai.
Nvidia ne 3 September 2026 ko Hugging Face khareedne ka muahida announce kiya tha. CEO Jensen Huang ne kaha tha ke platform doosri companies ke processors, frameworks aur cloud services ke liye khula rahega. Deal 2027 ke pehle nisf mein mukammal hone ki umeed hai.
Yeh wazeh karna zaroori hai ke kisi jaanch ka matlab ghalti sabit hona nahi hota, aur har jaanch muqadme par khatam nahi hoti. DOJ ne pending muamlaat par tabsara karne se inkar kiya, Nvidia ne tabsara nahi kiya, aur Hugging Face ke numaindon ne Reuters ko jawab nahi diya.
DOJ pehle bhi Nvidia ke doosre saudon ki jaanch kar chuka hai, jin mein 2025 mein Groq ke sath licensing deal aur Run:ai ka hasool shamil hai. Filhal deal apni jagah par qaim hai — aur DOJ ke sawalat sirf sawalat hain, koi faisla nahi.
){kind=link}
0 Comments