Sources: the US DOJ will take the lead in investigating whether Nvidia has violated antitrust laws; the US FTC will lead the inquiries into OpenAI and Microsoft

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to divide responsibility for investigating three major players in the artificial intelligence industry.

New York Times 2024-06-06 David McCabe

Context & Ripple Effects

The agency split follows earlier discussions over which regulator would examine the Microsoft–OpenAI relationship, reflected in the DOJ and FTC's prior jurisdiction talks. The FTC had also opened a review of major AI-lab investments, including Microsoft’s OpenAI stake, widening the competitive lens beyond conventional mergers.

Assigning leads gives each inquiry a clearer institutional owner: the DOJ on Nvidia’s position in AI infrastructure, and the FTC on the relationships around OpenAI and Microsoft. Later coverage of DOJ subpoenas seeking evidence about Nvidia switching barriers shows how an initial allocation can develop into a more targeted conduct investigation.

First-order effects

Nvidia faces DOJ-led antitrust scrutiny, while OpenAI and Microsoft must engage with an FTC-led review of their market relationships and conduct.
The division reduces jurisdictional ambiguity between the agencies, allowing separate investigations to proceed around AI hardware and AI platform partnerships.

Second-order effects

Nvidia’s commercial and acquisition choices may receive closer review; subsequent DOJ attention to Nvidia's proposed Run:ai acquisition indicates that scrutiny can extend from market conduct to infrastructure deals.
Cloud providers, AI labs, and startup partners must account for whether investment, distribution, and compute arrangements could be assessed as affecting competition, not merely as financing or product collaboration.

Third-order effects

If sustained, split enforcement could make AI competition policy more specialized: the DOJ concentrating on infrastructure-market power and the FTC on platform, investment, and partnership structures.
The pattern could shift AI dealmaking toward arrangements designed for greater regulatory defensibility, though the eventual effect depends on what the agencies find and whether they bring cases.

The trend: US AI oversight is moving from broad concern about concentration toward agency-specific scrutiny of the compute stack and the partnerships built on top of it.

Discussion

@adamkovac Adam Kovacevich on x
NEW: The Dept of Justice and FTC just struck a deal. If the past is a guide - the deal is likely to result in AI-related antitrust lawsuits as early as next year against Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI. This chart explains it ⤵️ Let me explain... 1/ [image]
@cullend Cullen on x
What? Three competing entities with distinct capabilities being each others customers is collusion Altman and Microsoft are both making their own AI chips Microsoft is developing g their own models Apple is about to be OpenAI's biggest customer What's the case here
@eshumarneedi @eshumarneedi on x
I understand Microsoft (don't agree with, but understand), but Nvidia? Seriously? The U.S. government is about to open an inquiry into Nvidia? What antitrust laws could a chipmaker possibly have violated? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@blockheartben Benjamin Lockheart on x
@dmccabe Sounds like a bunch of lawyers getting ready to rumble. Wonder what kind of “collaborative” shenanigans they've been up to behind closed doors. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
@joshua_sisco Josh Sisco on x
New: The FTC and DOJ finally, after a year of negotiations, reach agreement who gets what for their AI antitrust investigations. DOJ takes Nvidia (and keeps Google, while the FTC will get Microsoft and OpenAI (and keep Amazon.) https://www.politico.com/... (@dmccabe with the scoo…
@aifray @aifray on x
The problem is not that the FTC is interested in what Microsoft does. After all, it's a huge company. It's that it pursues such “cases” as Activision Blizzard King and OpenAI. ABK was a merger, but none that substantially lessens competition. OpenAI is not even a merger.
@bern_identity @bern_identity on x
Interesting coincidence. The day NVIDIA makes history by closing above $3T for first time and surpasses Apple to become the 2nd biggest co by market cap, it's announced the Justice Dept will take the lead in investigating whether NVIDIA, the biggest maker of AI chips, has...
@dmccabe David McCabe on x
Scoop: Antitrust regulators have reached a deal that clears the way for federal investigations into the conduct of Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI in the AI industry. It is expected to be finalized in the coming days. https://www.nytimes.com/...
r/wallstreetbets r on reddit
Antitrust investigation into NVDA, MSFT, and OpenAI
r/singularity r on reddit
U.S. Clears Way for Antitrust Inquiries of Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI
r/aiwars r on reddit
U.S. Clears Way for Antitrust Inquiries of Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI
@paleofuture.bsky.social Matt Novak on bluesky
This article doesn't mention this angle, but Bloomberg's Matt Levine recently pointed out that most of these big AI investments make sure the company getting the investment buys more space at the investor's data centers. I don't think he used the term money laundering, but... […
@zitron.bsky.social Ed Zitron on bluesky
The AI industry is going to shit the bed [embedded post]
@jennatelesca Jenna Telesca on x
Scoop by @davidamichaels & @cityofthetown The FTC is investigating whether Microsoft structured one of its latest deals with an artificial-intelligence startup to avoid a government antitrust review of the transaction. https://www.wsj.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
No big tech is not ‘smarter’ than the government. When you take control of a corporation you are subject to merger law. [image]
@dseetharaman Deepa Seetharaman on x
The FTC is drilling down on Microsoft's deal with Inflection AI, “seeking information about how & why they negotiated their partnership.” The agency is also trying to determine whether MSFT designed the deal to bypass an FTC review, sources tell @wsj. https://www.wsj.com/...
@wsj @wsj on x
The FTC is investigating whether Microsoft structured one of its latest deals with an AI startup to avoid an antitrust review of the transaction https://www.wsj.com/... https://www.wsj.com/...
@lewis_crofts Lewis Crofts on x
‘Urgent’ scrutiny needed over Big Tech's control of AI. DOJ's Kanter in @ft : Form isn't important (partnerships aqui-hires etc), it's effect. Premise: AI market now is as competitive as it's going to get. From now on, it will only decrease. https://www.ft.com/...
@cori_crider Cori Crider on x
Jonathan Kanter @JusticeATR is right: Big Tech is locking down AI at pace. There's no time to waste. That's why @foxglovelegal have told enforcers, w/ @openmarkets @ICCLtweet @article19org + friends: step in now, before Big Tech eats the future. https://www.ft.com/... [image]

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