FTC sues to block Nvidia's $40B acquisition of Arm

The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of chip design company Arm, claiming that the deal could stifle innovation and harm competition in the chip market.According to the FTC, the proposed deal would 'give one of the larges chip companies control over the computing technology and designs that rival firms rely on to develop their own competing chips.' The FTC's complaint alleges that, if the deal went through, the new firm would have both the means and incentive to stifle innovation.'Tomorrow's technologies depend on preserving today's competitive, cutting-edge chip markets,' said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. 'This proposed deal would distort Arm's incentives in chip markets and allow the combined firm to unfairly undermine Nvidia's rivals. The FTC's lawsuit should send a strong signal that we will act aggressively to protect our critical infrastructure markets from illegal vertical mergers that have far-reaching and damaging effects on future innovations.' Read more...