Nvidia boss: Intel suit to 'transform computer industry'

Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang believes the US Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Intel could "completely transform the computer industry."

On Wednesday, the FTC sued the world's largest chip maker over alleged anticompetitive practices. Among other things, the consumer watchdog accused Intel of illegally attempting to smother the makers of rival graphic chips.

"These products have lessened the need for CPUs, and therefore pose a threat to Intel’s monopoly power," the complaint reads. "Intel has responded to this competitive challenge by embarking on a similar anticompetitive strategy, which aims to preserve its CPU monopoly by smothering potential competition from GPU chips such as those made by Nvidia."

After the release of the complaint, Jen Hsan Huang addressed the suit in an internal Nvidia memo, shared with Cnet. "This is an action the industry needs and one that consumers deserve. And it's one that can completely transform the computer industry," he writes. "Intel is fully aware that great graphics have become one of the most important features for consumer PCs, the fastest-growing segment of the PC market. Even more alarming to Intel is the revolutionary parallel computing technology in our GPUs that is being adopted by software developers across the world.

"The more successful we became, the bigger threat we were to Intel's monopoly. Instead of creating competitive GPU solutions and competing on the merits of their products, Intel has resorted to unlawful acts to stop us."

What's more, Huang sees the suit as a ringing endorsement for the graphics-chip industry - Intel aside. "Today's FTC announcement highlights the industry-changing impact of the GPU and the importance of our work," he says. "Our innovation is making the PC magical and amazing again. I can now imagine the day when Intel can no longer block consumers from enjoying our creation and experience computing in a way we know is possible." ®