Arm Holdings Faces FTC Antitrust Probe Over Chip Licensing Practices, Bloomberg Reports

Arm Holdings (ARM) is facing a U.S. Federal Trade Commission antitrust investigation into whether the chip designer is illegally monopolizing parts of the semiconductor market through its technology licensing practices, Bloomberg News reported May 15, 2026. The FTC is examining whether Arm may reject or downgrade licensing agreements for chip blueprints used to design central processing units, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. The regulator notified Arm of the investigation in 2026 and ordered the company to preserve documents, according to the report. Arm generates a significant share of revenue by licensing its semiconductor designs to customers including Nvidia and Apple and collecting royalties on their use. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Bloomberg report. Arm and the FTC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Regulators outside the U.S. have also scrutinized Arm, including South Korea’s antitrust authority, which investigated the company’s Seoul offices in November 2025.