U.S. Department of Justice Investigates NVIDIA-Groq Deal Over Alleged Antitrust Evasion

BlockBeats News, September 10: According to sources familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether NVIDIA (NVDA.O) attempted to evade antitrust scrutiny in order to finalize a deal signed last year with AI chip manufacturer Groq. At the time, Groq described the deal as a "non-exclusive licensing agreement," allowing NVIDIA to use Groq's chips specifically designed for running AI tasks. As part of the arrangement, Groq's CEO Jonathan Ross and COO Sunny Madra joined NVIDIA. AI companies have entered into several similar agreements, including licensing technology from other firms and hiring key personnel from those companies, without completing direct acquisitions. Such arrangements often bypass automatic government reviews of traditional merger transactions, which are designed to assess whether a deal would harm market competition.