According to a report from Bloomberg, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a subpoena to NVIDIA as part of an antitrust investigation into the company’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of Arm Ltd. The subpoena signals that the DOJ’s scrutiny of the deal is intensifying, as regulators examine whether the merger could potentially harm competition in the semiconductor industry. NVIDIA, a leading producer of graphics processing units (GPUs), aims to acquire Arm from SoftBank Group Corp. However, the deal has faced significant regulatory hurdles, with concerns raised about the potential for NVIDIA to limit access to Arm’s chip designs, which are widely used by other semiconductor firms. The DOJ’s subpoena likely seeks information and documents related to the proposed merger’s potential impact on competition and innovation in the industry. While NVIDIA has argued that the acquisition would create more opportunities for innovation, regulators remain wary of potential anticompetitive effects. The subpoena underscores the heightened scrutiny the deal is facing from antitrust authorities.
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-subpoena-nvidia-antitrust-investigation-heats-up-report-2024-9