When Intel thought it was all safe after solving issues with AMD, it’s the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who is trying to become Intel’s latest nightmare. The FTC is suing Intel because the chipmaker illegally used its monopoly position to curb competition and cripple innovation.
FTC acknowledges that Intel used its position to take control of the CPU market but FTC is suing them to protect the GPU market, where Intel is currently eyeing on and could pose a threat to makers like Nvidia. FTC says there’s a “dangerous probability that Intel’s unfair methods of competition could allow it to extend its monopoly into the GPU chip markets.”
Intel was quick to reply FTC’s allegations and the statement where they say “FTC’s case is misguided” sums it all. Here is the full statement.
“Intel has competed fairly and lawfully. Its actions have benefitted consumers. The highly competitive microprocessor industry, of which Intel is a key part, has kept innovation robust and prices declining at a faster rate than any other industry. The FTC’s case is misguided. It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to make new rules for regulating business conduct. These new rules would harm consumers by reducing innovation and raising prices.”
“This case could have, and should have, been settled. Settlement talks had progressed very far but stalled when the FTC insisted on unprecedented remedies – including the restrictions on lawful price competition and enforcement of intellectual property rights set forth in the complaint — that would make it impossible for Intel to conduct business.”
“The FTC’s rush to file this case will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to litigate issues that the FTC has not fully investigated. It is the normal practice of antitrust enforcement agencies to investigate the facts before filing suit. The Commission did not do that in this case.”
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