DOJ probes Nvidia Groq deal for antitrust evasion

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Nvidia deliberately structured its licensing and hiring arrangement with artificial intelligence chip designer Groq to circumvent antitrust review. The inquiry, which began shortly after the deal was announced in December, centers on whether the agreement functioned as a de facto acquisition without formal regulatory reporting. The arrangement granted Nvidia a nonexclusive license to Groq's chip technology and saw several Groq executives, including founder Jonathan Ross, join Nvidia. However, Groq remained legally independent, and the deal was not reported as a merger. The Justice Department has issued a formal request for information to Nvidia regarding the transaction. An Nvidia spokesperson stated that the Groq arrangement exemplifies the American system's support for innovation, entrepreneurs, and consumers. Investigators are examining if this structure was designed to avoid scrutiny, a point that may be difficult to prove as antitrust law typically focuses on changes in company control, which a nonexclusive license does not inherently represent.