NVIDIA bought Run:ai to “bury” the startup’s work, the US Department of Justice suspects

According to Silicon Angle, the US Department of Justice has taken up NVIDIA’s deal to buy startup Run:ai, which develops software for managing AI workloads. The software allows for more efficient use of computing resources when working with AI applications, which could be a hindrance to NVIDIA’s business.

Information about the investigation appeared in the media last week. A couple of months ago, sources already reported that the ministry was investigating NVIDIA’s dominant position in the AI ​​chip market. According to sources, the deal will be considered regardless of the previous investigation.

Image source: Romain Dancre/unsplash.com

NVIDIA bought Tel Aviv startup Run:ai (registered as Runai Labs Ltd) at the beginning of the year for $700 million. Previously, it had already raised about $118 million from investors. The platform it offers allows expanding the functionality of accelerator clusters and increasing their recycling rate. Run:ai allows you to run multiple tasks on the same accelerator. The platform will also allow you to avoid memory conflicts, as well as errors inherent in AI calculations.

Workloads can be accelerated by other methods. For example, to train a language model, developers break it into parts, each of which is trained on a separate accelerator. Fragments regularly exchange data during training, but the work is configured thanks to Run:ai in such a way that data exchange is faster and training sessions are shorter.

In other words, AI projects can be accelerated without adding new computing resources. The reverse is also true; tasks can be completed at the same speed using fewer accelerators. It was the latter option that attracted the attention of the Ministry of Justice. A platform that can reduce the number of accelerators required may result in some customers purchasing fewer NVIDIA products. Officials suspect the IT giant that it simply intends to “bury” the technology that threatens its core business.

Image Source: Run:ai

Other aspects of the company’s activities are also being studied. For example, the ministry wants to know whether NVIDIA makes access to its accelerators conditional on customers purchasing other of its products, or whether it makes it a condition not to buy equipment from competitors. NVIDIA claims that it deserves to lead the market, complying with all laws, and the company’s products are open and accessible to any business – customers can make the decision that suits them best.

Last month, information appeared that the French antitrust regulator intended to bring charges against NVIDIA. Probably the CUDA toolkit for developing software used with the company’s accelerators and video cards comes into view. Officials are also concerned about NVIDIA’s investments in AI-focused cloud companies like CoreWeave, which are massively deploying the company’s accelerators in their infrastructure. It is assumed that the investor will be able to influence the preferences of partners when purchasing accelerators and software.