The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has closed its investigation into AMD's ATI division and Nvidia.

In what were considered to be the first signs of an antitrust probe for the GPU industry, the DOJ in late 2006 sent subpoenas to AMD and Nvidia, opening a pricing and marketing investigation.

AMD entered the graphics processor business following the company's much-publicized October 2006 $5.4 billion acquisition of ATI Technologies, then Nvidia's prime competitor. Since the buy, the number two MPU maker has faced much criticism that it overpaid for ATI, and in July announced a massive charge connected to the buy.

While still the GPU market leader, Nvidia has also faced its share of turbulence in recent quarters. In September the company announced it would cut 360 jobs after reporting a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous generation GPU and MCP products used in notebook systems.

Both AMD and Nvidia said that they fully cooperated with the DOJ's investigation and that no specific allegations were ever made against either company.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News - Electronic News

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