知情人士表示，反垄断官员们担心，英伟达正在使客户更难转向其他供应商，并将不全部使用其人工智能芯片的买家置于不利地位。Insiders familiar with the investigation revealed that the Department of Justice is now issuing legally binding requests to some companies, demanding that they provide information. Regulatory agencies are inquiring whether Nvidia provides preferential pricing and supply channels to customers who only use its products.
According to media reports, the U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to companies such as Nvidia in search of evidence of antitrust violations by the AI chip giant.
Insiders familiar with the investigation revealed that the Department of Justice had previously issued investigation questionnaires to many companies, and is now making legally binding requests to these companies, requiring them to provide information. This means that the Department of Justice is one step closer to formally suing Nvidia.
Sources indicated that antitrust officials are concerned that Nvidia is making it harder for customers to switch to other suppliers and putting buyers who do not exclusively use its AI chips at a disadvantage.
Regulatory agencies are inquiring whether Nvidia provides preferential pricing and supply channels to customers who only use its products.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is also investigating Nvidia's acquisition of the software startup Run:ai. The deal was announced in April of this year, and due to Run:ai's production of software used for managing AI computing, some are concerned that this collaboration will make it harder for customers to abandon Nvidia chips.
Nvidia fell by 9.53% on Tuesday, and the news caused a further drop of nearly 2% after hours.
In response to questions about the investigation, Nvidia stated in an email declaration that its dominant market position is due to the quality of its products, meaning the company's products can provide faster performance.
Nvidia wrote in the email, "Nvidia leads by strength, as reflected in our benchmark test results and the value to customers, who can choose the most suitable solution for them."
In recent years, industry insiders have become increasingly concerned about the potential monopoly form of Nvidia's dominant position, including how its software "locks in" customers to use its chips, and how these chips are distributed to customers.
Earlier reports indicated that French regulatory institutions expressed concerns about the excessive dependence of the AI industry on Nvidia's programming tool "CUDA". There were also reports that Nvidia had threatened customers, saying, "When you buy AMD chips, Nvidia may increase the price for you."
Analysts point out that if these allegations are true, Nvidia will face even broader regulatory issues. This is because as AI technology becomes increasingly important to the economic and national security of various countries, access to computing power has become a key focus of governments around the world.
