On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened a formal antitrust investigation targeting Intel Corp., the world's biggest name in the chip making business.

The company is suspected to have had an anticompetitive conduct towards its smaller rival, Sunnyvale-based Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

During this past week, the FTC has sent subpoenas to Intel, AMD and several major computer makers that have been buying semiconductors produced by the two companies.

Intel issued a written statement that said it has started working with the FTC in 2006 "on an informal inquiry into competition in the microprocessor market and has provided the commission staff with a considerable amount of information and thousands of documents."

The company went on to say it would willingly cooperate with the comission’s investigation, as it "believes its business practices are well within U.S. law."

This is not the first time Intel finds itself in such a situation. According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, between 2002 and 2005, Samsung Electronics Co. and Trigem Computer Inc. were offered $37 million in rebates by Intel, so that the two companies would not buy chips made by AMD. 

Last year, the European Commission (EC) forwarded allegations that Intel paid certain computer manufacturers in order to delay or even cancel the launch of products containing AMD technology. FTC officials will be the judges of whether or not Intel is at fault.