The U.S. Department of Justice （DoJ） launches an antitrust investigation into Nvidia’s acquisition of Israeli AI software startup Run:ai, examining potential abuses of market dominance.
Points
- DoJ investigates Nvidia’s acquisition of Run:ai over antitrust issues.
- Nvidia faces allegations of threatening customers who buy from competitors.
- The probe includes whether Nvidia’s acquisition affects the use of non-Nvidia GPUs.
The U.S. Department of Justice （DoJ） is investigating Nvidia’s acquisition of Israeli AI software startup Run:ai over antitrust issues. Officials are also probing whether Nvidia abused its market dominance in selling AI chips.
Competitors accuse Nvidia of threatening to “punish” customers who buy products from any other company apart from itself. Some of Nvidia’s customers fear that the chipmaker could raise prices or limit the number of chips it will sell if a customer also buys from competitors, according to employees of customers who spoke with The Information.
DoJ officials are looking into whether Nvidia coerced some of its customers, including cloud providers that lease servers powered by the firm’s chips to AI developers, into buying more of its chips. The Information reports that one Nvidia rival alleged the company limited the number of chips a customer can buy if they aren’t buying anything else.
Another competitor reportedly told U.S. investigators that the chipmaker raised prices for customers who buy just one product in bundled packages that include chips – like its high-end H100 chip -and cables.
Nvidia Denies Wrongdoing
Investigators have also asked Nvidia’s rivals about the company’s acquisition of Run:ai. They are keen to find out whether the Israeli startup allows its customers to use graphics processing units （GPUs） that are not made by Nvidia and whether the acquisition has any effect on this.
“We compete based on decades of investment and innovation, scrupulously adhering to all laws…We’ll continue to support aspiring innovators in every industry and market and are happy to provide any information regulators need.”
The U.S. Justice Department has not publicly commented on the issue.
This is not the first time that Nvidia has faced scrutiny over its business practices. In July, the French antitrust regulator said it planned to launch a probe into Nvidia’s alleged anti-competitive behavior. The regulator is concerned about the AI sector’s dependence on Nvidia’s CUDA chip programming software.
解説
- Investigasi Antitrust: DoJ meluncurkan penyelidikan antitrust terhadap akuisisi Nvidia atas Run:ai, memeriksa kemungkinan penyalahgunaan dominasi pasar.
- Tuduhan Terhadap Nvidia: Nvidia diduga mengancam pelanggan yang membeli dari pesaing dan membatasi jumlah chip yang dijual.
- Tanggapan Nvidia: Nvidia membantah melakukan kesalahan dan menyatakan bahwa mereka bersaing berdasarkan inovasi dan investasi jangka panjang.