# Is Hugging Face acquired by Nvidia? A $12.93B deal is pending > Nvidia agreed on September 2 to buy Hugging Face for about $12.93 billion. It expects to close in the first half of 2027, and the Justice Department is reportedly asking questions. URL: https://claudegpt.si/news/is-hugging-face-acquired-by-nvidia Published: 2026-11-02T02:53:33.429Z Author: ClaudeGPT Si Newsroom Section: AI News Topics: Nvidia, Hugging Face, Acquisitions, Open source AI Publisher: ClaudeGPT Si ## Key takeaways - Nvidia signed a definitive agreement on September 2, 2026 to acquire Hugging Face for about $12.93 billion, but the deal has not closed. - Nvidia's SEC filing says it expects to close in the first half of 2027, subject to required regulatory approvals. - Reuters reported on October 28 that the US Justice Department is making inquiries about the deal; Nvidia declined to comment. Is Hugging Face acquired by Nvidia? Not yet. Nvidia has agreed to acquire it for about $12.93 billion, but the deal has not closed and Hugging Face is still independent. Nvidia signed the definitive agreement on September 2, 2026, announced it the next day in a [post by CEO Jensen Huang](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-to-acquire-hugging-face/), and expects to finish in the first half of 2027. Hugging Face is where most open AI models are shared. If one company that sells most of the chips for AI owns that hub, developers want to know what changes. Nvidia says nothing does. ## What Nvidia agreed to pay Huang's post gives the price as $12,930,300,000. Nvidia's [Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001045810/000104581026000078/nvda-20260902.htm) breaks it down. About $11.9 billion goes to Hugging Face stockholders, subject to adjustments. Up to about $1.0 billion is an equity-based retention program for Hugging Face employees who join Nvidia. The filing says the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to customary conditions including required regulatory approvals. ## What Nvidia says will stay the same Huang writes that Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the whole AI ecosystem, and that Nvidia compute will not be required to build on or deploy through it. He says it will keep supporting open-source and open-weight models from every model builder, and multiple clouds and chip vendors. The 8-K puts the same promise in a regulatory filing. Hugging Face would keep letting model makers, developers and users upload and download the models and datasets they choose, and keep supporting other silicon vendors. Hugging Face keeps its name and its emoji logo. Huang's post gives the platform's scale: more than 18 million users, over 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications. He says Nvidia is already the largest contributor of open models and data to Hugging Face, with more than 500 models and 250 datasets. ## The Justice Department has questions On October 28, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the US Department of Justice is making inquiries about the deal. Reuters's article is behind a login, so this account comes from [Gadget Review's summary of the Reuters report](https://www.gadgetreview.com/nvidias-13-billion-ai-takeover-reportedly-has-the-justice-department-asking-questions), which links to it. According to that summary, the questions reportedly cover the Hugging Face deal and Nvidia's wider acquisitions, investments and sales practices. They reportedly include whether Nvidia could use Hugging Face to steer developers toward its products or disadvantage rival hardware and cloud providers. Nvidia declined to comment, per the report. We could not read the Reuters piece ourselves, and neither Nvidia nor the Justice Department has published anything on this. Inquiries are not a lawsuit or a block. The 8-K says closing depends on required regulatory approvals, and a government review is the kind of thing that can move the timeline. ## A risk Nvidia flagged itself The 8-K adds a risk factor. Nvidia notes that other parties are lobbying the US government and others to restrict open-source models, and that new rules could force changes to what Hugging Face hosts. It adds that many popular open models originate in China, and that limits on models derived from any region could materially affect Hugging Face and Nvidia's business. ## What we don't know yet - Whether the Justice Department or any other regulator will challenge the deal. - How the "adjustments" to the $11.9 billion will work out. - Whether Hugging Face's own announcement adds terms. We found no post about the deal on its [blog](https://huggingface.co/blog) as of November 2. Until the deal closes, Hugging Face runs as a separate company. Watch for a regulatory filing or an updated 8-K, and for the first-half 2027 close date to hold or slip. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much is Nvidia paying for Hugging Face? Jensen Huang's post gives the price as $12,930,300,000. Nvidia's 8-K splits it into about $11.9 billion for Hugging Face stockholders, subject to adjustments, and up to about $1.0 billion in equity-based retention awards for employees joining Nvidia. ### When will the Nvidia Hugging Face deal close? Nvidia's 8-K says it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions including required regulatory approvals. ### Will Hugging Face stay open after Nvidia buys it? Nvidia says yes. Huang writes that Hugging Face will remain an open platform and that Nvidia compute will not be required to use it. The 8-K commits to letting users upload and download models of their choosing and to supporting other chip vendors. ### Is the DOJ blocking Nvidia's Hugging Face acquisition? No block has been reported. Reuters reported on October 28 that the Justice Department is making inquiries, according to people familiar with the matter. Nvidia declined to comment. ## Sources - [NVIDIA to Acquire Hugging Face](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-to-acquire-hugging-face/), NVIDIA Blog - [NVIDIA Form 8-K, September 3, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001045810/000104581026000078/nvda-20260902.htm), SEC EDGAR - [Nvidia's $13 Billion AI Takeover Reportedly Has the Justice Department Asking Questions](https://www.gadgetreview.com/nvidias-13-billion-ai-takeover-reportedly-has-the-justice-department-asking-questions), Gadget Review - [US DOJ is inquiring about Nvidia's purchase of Hugging Face, sources say](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-doj-is-inquiring-about-nvidias-purchase-hugging-face-sources-say-2026-10-28/), Reuters - [Hugging Face blog](https://huggingface.co/blog), Hugging Face