The US division of justice has launched an investigation into Nvidia after complaints from rivals that it might have abused its market dominance in promoting chips that energy synthetic intelligence, The Info reported on Thursday.
Investigators are whether or not Nvidia pressured cloud suppliers to purchase a number of Nvidia merchandise, the report mentioned, citing folks concerned within the discussions.
The investigation can be wanting into whether or not Nvidia expenses its clients the next value for networking gear if the client desires to purchase AI chips from rivals reminiscent of AMD and Intel, the report added. Nvidia instructions roughly 80% of the AI chip market.
“We compete based mostly on many years of funding and innovation, scrupulously adhering to all legal guidelines, making Nvidia overtly accessible in each cloud and on-prem for each enterprise, and guaranteeing that clients can select no matter answer is greatest for them,” an Nvidia spokesman mentioned in an announcement.
The justice division didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark late on Thursday.
The report mentioned that investigators have reached out to a number of Nvidia rivals to collect extra particulars. US progressive teams and Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren have pressed the justice division to research Nvidia over competitors considerations.
The teams, which oppose monopolies and promote authorities oversight of tech firms, amongst different points, took goal at Nvidia’s bundling of software program and {hardware}, a apply that French antitrust enforcers have flagged as they put together to carry expenses. — Angela Christy and Mrinmay Dey, with Devika Nair, (c) 2024 Reuters
