Wednesday, September 4th 2024
DOJ Issues Subpoena to NVIDIA as Antitrust Probe Intensifies
The U.S. Department of Justice has stepped up its probe into NVIDIA and several other companies in the hopes of gaining evidence that NVIDIA could have violated antitrust laws. The DOJ moved from sending questionnaires to issuing subpoenas requiring recipients to provide more information. This puts the government one step closer to potentially filing a formal complaint. Antitrust officials are concerned that NVIDIA might be making it difficult for customers to switch to other suppliers and could be penalizing those who don't exclusively use its AI chips, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The probe, which first came to light in June via Bloomberg, has seen investigators reaching out to other tech companies for information. The DOJ's San Francisco office is leading the inquiry, though the department has declined to comment publicly on the matter. In response to the investigation, NVIDIA said in an emailed statement that its market dominance is due to the superior quality and performance of its products. "NVIDIA wins on merit, as reflected in our benchmark results and value to customers, who can choose whatever solution is best for them".
NVIDIA, which has become the world's most valuable chipmaker and a major player in the AI boom, has attracted regulatory scrutiny as its sales have surged, surpassing former industry leaders like Intel.
As part of the DOJ's probe, regulators are also looking into NVIDIA's acquisition of RunAI, a company that develops software for managing AI computing. There are concerns that this acquisition could make it harder for customers to move away from NVIDIA's chips. Additionally, investigators are examining whether NVIDIA offers preferential pricing and supply terms to customers who exclusively use its technology or purchase complete systems.
Beyond this specific investigation, NVIDIA's business practices are facing broader regulatory questions, especially as access to AI capabilities becomes increasingly crucial to economic strength and national security worldwide.
Source:
Bloomberg
The probe, which first came to light in June via Bloomberg, has seen investigators reaching out to other tech companies for information. The DOJ's San Francisco office is leading the inquiry, though the department has declined to comment publicly on the matter. In response to the investigation, NVIDIA said in an emailed statement that its market dominance is due to the superior quality and performance of its products. "NVIDIA wins on merit, as reflected in our benchmark results and value to customers, who can choose whatever solution is best for them".
As part of the DOJ's probe, regulators are also looking into NVIDIA's acquisition of RunAI, a company that develops software for managing AI computing. There are concerns that this acquisition could make it harder for customers to move away from NVIDIA's chips. Additionally, investigators are examining whether NVIDIA offers preferential pricing and supply terms to customers who exclusively use its technology or purchase complete systems.
Beyond this specific investigation, NVIDIA's business practices are facing broader regulatory questions, especially as access to AI capabilities becomes increasingly crucial to economic strength and national security worldwide.
36 Comments on DOJ Issues Subpoena to NVIDIA as Antitrust Probe Intensifies
Antitrust is handled by antitrust at Department of Justice/FBI. I'm pretty sure export restrictions is Department of State.
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Antitrust guys just finished a big Google case. They're clearly getting ready for another big case. I wonder what the evidence is... But I'm sure we will see it soon enough.
www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-denies-it-got-subpoena-from-the-us-doj-in-ai-antitrust-investigation
Are there legal restrictions in place that also limit their ability to do that?
Also forcing exclusivity seems a bit of a stretch. Any major cloud provider will offer both Nvidia and AMD HPC nodes, so I'm not really seeing a restriction here. Sure, there are those running on-prem hardware. But those are relatively few, it will be hard to establish a pattern from those samples.
Still, this is my image from the outside (and far away), let's see how this unravels.
Nvidia has been known to force AIB partners into submission, no one cared about that.