Antitrust lawyer flags risks in $100B Nvidia–OpenAI partnership

Antitrust lawyer with Doyle, Barlow & Mazard, Andre Barlow, said the $100 billion partnership between AI chipmaker Nvidia and OpenAI raises significant antitrust concerns. He also believes the deal could give both firms an unfair advantage.

According to Barlow, the billion-dollar initiative brings a surge in the overlapping financial interests of the various tech giants developing advanced AI systems. He also believes it deepens the potential for a dwindling number of tech giants to stave off smaller rivals.

Trump’s administration takes a pro-business approach towards AI growth

The lawyer said that such huge investments in the AI space raise antimonopoly concerns. He also noted that the Trump administration has taken a pro-business approach to regulations and removed hurdles that would allow AI to grow.

A Department of Justice official mentioned last week that President Donald Trump had unleashed U.S. dominance in the artificial intelligence sector by prioritizing creating incentives for AI growth. The official also argued that protecting AI competition through antitrust enforcement is also part of the President’s AI initiative.

Data shows that the ChatGPT maker holds more than 50% of the market for the GPU chips that run the data centers powering artificial intelligence models and applications. Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School, acknowledged that OpenAI’s dominant market position raises concerns that Nvidia would favor OpenAI over other customers with better pricing or faster delivery times.

Allensworth believes both tech giants are financially interested in each other’s success. She said the financial interest creates an incentive for Nvidia to not sell chips to, or not sell chips on the same terms to, other rivals of OpenAI.

A Nvidia spokesperson maintained that the partnership between both companies would not change its focus. The Reuters report revealed that the spokesperson also acknowledged that the semiconductor manufacturer will continue to prioritize every customer, with or without any equity stake.

According to Nvidia’s financial filings, the firm’s biggest customer base includes the two largest buyers, who accounted for 23% and 16% of its revenue in the second quarter of 2025. However, the company did not disclose the names of the buyers.

Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, believes that the agreement between both firms is that Nvidia would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, and the latter would purchase millions of chips from the semiconductor manufacturer. She also believes the initiative shows how expensive the AI frontier has become. Kreps argued that the cost of chips, data centers, and power has pushed the sector to a few firms that can finance projects on a huge scale.

DOJ warns against antitrust actions by big tech firms

Under Joe Biden’s administration, the DOJ and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission were always vigilant against antimonopoly actions by big tech companies in the AI industry. The agencies warned that such firms could use their existing scale to dominate the nascent field.

Both agencies have maintained their guard and continued other cases against big tech corporations. The DOJ’s antitrust division head, Gail Slater, mentioned last week that enforcement agencies must focus on preventive anticompetitive behavior over the resources required to build competitive AI production systems. 

Slater added that the competitive dynamics of each layer of the AI stack and how they interrelate, especially towards discriminatory behavior limiting access to key inputs and distribution channels, call for an antitrust inquiry.

Nvidia also pledged a $5 billion investment in Intel. The deal will give the tech company approximately 4% of Intel after issuing new shares. Oracle is also considering a $20 billion multi-year cloud computing investment with Meta. Oracle also signed a deal with OpenAI, where the ChatGPT maker is expected to purchase roughly $300 billion in computing power from the company for about five years.

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