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Arm Holdings Faces U.S. FTC Antitrust Probe Over Chip Licensing Practices

By  |  May 17, 2026
FTC, price surveillance, retail prices

Arm Holdings is facing an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over its semiconductor licensing practices, according to a Bloomberg News report published Friday. The inquiry adds to growing regulatory scrutiny surrounding the British chip designer and its business practices across multiple markets.

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    The FTC is examining whether Arm may be attempting to unlawfully dominate certain segments of the semiconductor industry, according to Reuters, citing the Bloomberg report. Per Reuters, the regulator is reviewing whether Arm has sought to reject or weaken licensing agreements tied to its chip blueprints, which are widely used by technology companies to design central processing units.

    Bloomberg reported that the U.S. regulator informed Arm of the investigation earlier this year and instructed the company to preserve relevant documents, according to Reuters.

    Arm’s licensing model is central to the semiconductor ecosystem, with a significant share of its revenue generated through technology licensing agreements and royalty payments from major clients including Nvidia and Apple.

    The development comes as Arm remains locked in a legal and commercial dispute with Qualcomm over whether Qualcomm violated contractual terms following its acquisition of Nuvia.

    Responding to allegations raised by Qualcomm, 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.”

    Regulatory scrutiny of Arm is not limited to the United States. Authorities in South Korea have also been examining the company’s licensing practices. In November, South Korea’s antitrust regulator investigated Arm’s offices in Seoul as part of an ongoing review, according to Reuters.

    Source: Bloomberg