AMD off the hook in graphics case

By Shaun Nichols on Oct 15, 2008 6:49 AM
Filed under Hardware

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has called off its investigation into allegations that graphics firm ATI and its parent AMD had violated federal antitrust laws.

AMD received a subpoena from the DoJ in late 2006, shortly after the company wrapped up its $5.4bn acquisition of ATI.

The investigation centred on price-fixing allegations among graphics card vendors, particularly ATI and its chief rival Nvidia.

AMD had never put up much of a fight in the investigation, vowing to cooperate with all requests for information and to comply with any DoJ orders.

The case is unrelated to AMD's other high-profile antitrust row, in which the company accuses Intel of violating antitrust laws worldwide in its dealings with vendors during the two firms' battle over the desktop and server CPU markets.

Termination of the ATI investigation will come as welcome news to AMD. The company last week attempted to reverse its recent economic woes by spinning off its manufacturing operations into a partnership with the United Arab Emirates government known as The Foundry Company.