Nvidia Gets DOJ Subpoena in Escalating Antitrust Probe
(Bloomberg) -- The US Justice Department sent subpoenas to Nvidia Corp. and other companies as it seeks evidence that the chipmaker violated antitrust laws, an escalation of its investigation into the dominant provider of AI processors.
The DOJ, which had previously delivered questionnaires to companies, is now sending legally binding requests that oblige recipients to provide information, according to people familiar with the investigation. That takes the government a step closer to launching a formal complaint.
Antitrust officials are concerned that Nvidia is making it harder to switch to other suppliers and penalizes buyers that don’t exclusively use its artificial intelligence chips, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Nvidia shares, which suffered a record-setting rout on Tuesday, fell further in late trading after Bloomberg reported on the subpoenas. Still, the stock has more than doubled this year — fueled by explosive sales growth at the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker.
