The US Department of Justice is investigating a $20 billion licensing agreement between Nvidia and AI inference chip startup Groq, announced in December 2025, examining whether the deal's structure was designed to avoid the antitrust review a conventional acquisition would trigger. Under the agreement, Nvidia received a non-exclusive license to Groq's language processing unit technology, while Groq's chief executive and chief operating officer moved to Nvidia and Groq itself continued operating as a nominally independent company. Groq's valuation fell from roughly $7 billion before the deal to $3.5 billion in a subsequent funding round, a drop some observers have said reflects the company being hollowed out of its core resources and personnel even though formal ownership did not change hands. Because merger review under antitrust law generally turns on whether control of a company has changed hands, a non-exclusive license does not on its face transfer control, so DOJ investigators are examining whether the arrangement functioned as a de facto acquisition despite its formal structure. Nvidia has defended the deal, with the company saying the Groq transaction is an example of the US system working as intended, designed to foster innovation, reward entrepreneurs and benefit consumers. The DOJ declined to comment given the investigation's pending status.