FTC Opens Antitrust Probe Into Arm Holdings’ Chip Licensing Practices

Arm Holdings is facing an antitrust probe by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the British chip designer’s licensing of semiconductor technology, part of growing global scrutiny of the business, Bloomberg News reported.

The company faces growing scrutiny on its semiconductor licensing practices. (Photo: Arm Facebook)

The FTC is investigating whether Arm is attempting to illegally monopolize parts of the semiconductor market, according to the report.

Regulators are assessing whether Arm could reject or downgrade licensing agreements for chip blueprints used in designing central processing units (CPUs), citing people familiar with the matter.

The US regulator reportedly notified Arm of the investigation this year and instructed the company to preserve relevant documents.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm and Arm remain in a dispute over whether Qualcomm breached a contract with Arm following its acquisition of chip startup Nuvia.

Arm said in a statement: “Qualcomm’s baseless allegation of anticompetitive conduct is nothing more than a desperate and underhanded attempt to obtain leverage in the parties’ ongoing commercial dispute for its own competitive benefit,” Reuters also reported.