{
  "id": 1537343,
  "title": "Andreessen Horowitz focus of DOJ probe over board directors",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/andreessen-horowitz-focus-of-doj-probe-over-board-directors",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-17T18:21:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/08/17/andreessen-horowitz-boards-ai-trump-databricks-fivetran/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is under scrutiny by the Justice Department for alleged improper board memberships on competing artificial intelligence companies, according to sources familiar with the matter. The probe focuses on whether Andreessen Horowitz's investment partners are serving on boards of Databricks Inc. and Fivetran Inc., both of which are backed by the firm. Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, serves on the board of Databricks, while partner Martin Casado is a board member of Fivetran. Casado had also served on the board of dbt labs, which Fivetran acquired in June. The investigation, initially announced in October, was opened around the same time as the merger review and has continued since the deal's completion. Although the investigation has not been previously reported, it is part of the Biden administration's focus on resolving concerns under a rarely invoked 1914 law against interlocking directorates. The DOJ conducted a months-long review of the deal before clearing it unconditionally. Resolving such investigations typically requires directors to step down from one of the competing boards. Companies targeted by the investigation, such as Live Nation Entertainment Inc., have complied with this requirement. The investigation represents a continuation of the Biden administration's focus on the law, with directors resigning from boards in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Andreessen Horowitz, which has $90 billion in assets under management, has heavily invested in AI startups, including Cursor and ElevenLabs, and holds a significant stake in Databricks, which recently announced a $5 billion funding round at a $190 billion valuation.",
  "summary": "Andreessen Horowitz has closely aligned itself with the second Trump administration.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}