The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena to Nvidia, the Silicon Valley semiconductor maker that dominates the artificial intelligence market, as part of an ongoing investigation into possible antitrust violations.
The antitrust watchdog has previously sent out questionnaires and has now sent a binding letter of demand to Nvidia. According to Bloomberg News.
The report added that other companies had also received subpoenas.
Nvidia declined to comment on the reports but said it would provide any information requested by regulators.
“We compete based on decades of investment and innovation, strictly comply with all laws, and make Nvidia openly available on any cloud and on-premise for any company, allowing customers to choose the solution that works best for them,” an Nvidia spokesman told Reuters.
Nvidia came under global selling pressure on Tuesday as investor optimism about AI faded, sending the company's shares falling nearly 10%, wiping $279 billion from its market capitalization.
The company's CEO, Jensen Huang, who instilled a workplace culture that kept employees in the office seven days a week, lost $10 billion in his net worth. As measured by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index $94.9 billion as of the stock market's close on Tuesday.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment late on Thursday.
Last month, The Information reported that Justice Department investigators were looking into allegations that Nvidia abused its market power in selling chips that power artificial intelligence technology.
Nvidia has allegedly pressured cloud providers to buy multiple products and charged customers more for network equipment if they bought AI chips from competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.
Nvidia controls about 80% of the AI chip market.
US lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are urging the Department of Justice to investigate Nvidia over concerns it may be violating antitrust laws.
The world's largest maker of chips used for both artificial intelligence and computer graphics saw a surge in demand for its chips after the release of the generative AI application ChatGPT, sparking regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.
Earlier this summer, French authorities accused Nvidia of anti-competitive practices.
In 2022, Nvidia announced it was abandoning plans to buy semiconductor giant ARM for $40 billion after the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit seeking to block the deal.
The FTC, under current Chair Lina Khan, has been particularly aggressive in cracking down on alleged antitrust violations by big tech companies, drawing the ire of Silicon Valley tycoons and business leaders such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and IAC Chairman Barry Diller.
In July, Hoffman publicly urged Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris to fire Khan if he wins the 2024 presidential election in November.
Jonathan Cantor, the Justice Department's top antitrust official, has also angered business leaders with his attempts to curb corporate power in lawsuits against Google, Apple and others.
