(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice has sent a subpoena to Nvidia as it deepens its probe into the AI heavyweight's antitrust practices, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation.
The antitrust watchdog had previously delivered questionnaires and has now sent legally binding requests to Nvidia, the report said, adding that other companies had also received subpoenas.
Officials are concerned that the chipmaker is making it harder to switch to other suppliers and penalizes buyers that do not exclusively use its artificial intelligence chips, the report said.
The move marks an escalation of a crackdown the chip giant has reportedly been subjected to. Last month, the Information reported that the Department of Justice had launched an investigation into the company after complaints from competitors that it may have abused its market dominance.
The subpoena comes at a delicate time for AI-related companies as investors recalibrate expectations around the technology amid fears about overspending.
Nvidia's quarterly forecast, which fell short of investors' expectations last week, has also softened the optimism.
The company's shares fell 2.5% in extended trading on Tuesday after losing 9.5% in the regular session.
Nvidia declined to respond to a Reuters request for comment, while the DoJ did not immediately reply.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shinjini Ganguli)