The US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies, seeking evidence that the chipmaker violated antitrust laws. Bloomberg’s exclusive news fell like a bolt of lightning on Wall Street’s “favorite” and dominant provider of AI processors.
The Department of Justice, which previously delivered questionnaires to companies, now sends legally binding requests that compel recipients to provide information.
This brings the government one step closer to filing a formal complaint. Antitrust authorities worry that Nvidia is making it difficult to switch to other suppliers and penalizing buyers who don’t exclusively use its AI chips.
Who is Nvidia?
Founded in 1993, Nvidia made its name selling graphics cards to PC gamers. But her chip-making approach eventually proved useful for building AI models, a process that involves bombarding software with data.
The company has also rapidly expanded its lineup with a range of software, servers, networks and services — all aimed, Nvidia claims, at accelerating the development of artificial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said it is prioritizing customers who can use its products in ready-made data centers as soon as it supplies them, a policy designed to prevent inventory build-up and accelerate the wider adoption of artificial intelligence .
The success of its products – along with rivals’ struggles to produce alternative chips – has made Nvidia a critical part of the supply chain for some of the world’s biggest companies.
Microsoft and Meta Platforms, for example, spend more than 40% of their hardware budget on the chipmaker’s equipment.
