The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly escalated its antitrust investigation of Nvidia.
After previously sending questionnaires to the chipmaker and other tech companies, the DOJ is now sending legally binding requests for information, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Sept. 3), citing unnamed sources.
This move signals that the government has moved a step closer to making a formal complaint against Nvidia, according to the report.
The investigation focuses on concerns that Nvidia’s acquisition of Run:AI will make it difficult for customers to switch to other chip suppliers and that Nvidia uses supply and pricing to penalize customers that don’t only buy its chips, per the release.
When asked about the probe by Bloomberg, the company said: “Nvidia wins on merit, as reflected in our benchmark results and value to customers, who can choose whatever solution is best for them.”
It was reported Aug. 2 that the DOJ was looking into whether Nvidia has abused its dominant position in the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips by charging higher prices if customers also buy chips from its rivals and whether the company pressures buyers of its chips to also buy other products like cables.
An Nvidia spokesperson said at the time that the company is happy to provide information to regulators.
“We compete based on decades of investment and innovation, scrupulously adhering to all laws, making Nvidia openly available in every cloud and on-prem for every enterprise, and ensuring that customers can choose whatever solution is best for them,” the spokesperson said.
Nvidia has been facing increasing regulatory scrutiny. The company has disclosed requests for information from regulators in the United States, South Korea, the European Union, the United Kingdom and China.
These requests relate to various aspects of its AI business, including GPU sales, supply allocation and partnerships with companies developing foundation models.
Nvidia has earned a spot among the world’s most valuable companies, driven by the wave of investor interest in AI. The company’s gains have been driven by its status as the dominant maker of chips that help power data centers that run the computing tasks needed by AI applications.
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