Aug 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is

investigating chip giant Nvidia's ( NVDA ) buyout of AI startup

Run:ai on antitrust grounds, Politico reported on Thursday,

citing five people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) announced the acquisition of the Israeli firm in

April for around $700 million according to a report by Tech

Crunch.

Run:ai's technology allows developers and teams to manage

and optimize their artificial intelligence infrastructure.

"We'll continue to support aspiring innovators in every

industry and market and are happy to provide any information

regulators need," an Nvidia ( NVDA ) spokesperson said.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a

Reuters request for comment.

U.S. antitrust enforcers have been closely examining big

tech acquisition activity due to concerns that the concentration

of new technologies in the hands of a few companies could stifle

competition.

Reuters reported last month that the French antitrust

regulator was set to charge Nvidia ( NVDA ) for alleged anti-competitive

practices.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) profits and revenues have soared over the past year

as its processors become the gold standard in the chip industry

due to their ability to power AI applications, including

training models like ChatGPT.