Reports emerged over the weekend that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching an investigation into the proposed acquisition of Arm Holdings by chipmaker NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). The antitrust regulator has launched an in-depth inquiry into the acquisition after complaints by a number of rivals alleging that the deal would harm competition, according to a report by Bloomberg. Those opposed to the merger reportedly include Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), among others. Image source: NVIDIA.https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-to-acquire-arm-for... The companies complained to antitrust regulators that the technology they license from Arm is vital to their respective businesses. They fear NVIDIA might limit access to the technology. Reports also suggest the companies have filed similar objections with the European Commission, UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and China State Administration for Market Regulation. Arm licenses its technology to a vast array of companies, including Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Intel (NASDAQ:: INTC), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). According to the deal struck in September, NVIDIA would purchase Arm Holdings from SoftBank (OTC: SFTB.Y) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $40 billion. If the deal comes to fruition, it would mark the largest ever acquisition by NVIDIA, easily surpassing the $6.9 billion it spent to bring high-performance computing specialist Mellanox into the fold last year. NVIDIA has pushed back against the allegations, saying the reason it is paying such a robust premium for the company is the generous stream of revenue it will derive from Arm's licensing, something it has no intention of interrupting. "As we proceed through the review process, we're confident that both regulators and customers will see the benefits of our plan to continue Arm's open licensing model and ensure a transparent, collaborative relationship with Arm's licensees," Nvidia said in a statement. Find out why NVIDIA is one of the 10 best stocks to buy now Motley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now. NVIDIA is on the list -- but there are nine others you may be overlooking. Click here to get access to the full list! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 20, 2020 John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source