The Justice Department has opened a probe into Andreessen Horowitz concerning its partners serving on boards of competing companies, per Bloomberg. The nearly year‑long investigation focuses on the firm’s board seats at Databricks (valued at $190 billion) and Fivetran, which merged with dbt Labs in June. Andreessen Horowitz co‑founder Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks’ board, while partner Martin Casado serves on Fivetran’s board.

Several venture capitalists told TechCrunch they were surprised by the probe. Although Databricks and Fivetran were not rivals when a16z invested, Databricks’ expansion into AI data pipelines via its Lakeflow product now overlaps with Fivetran’s core business of data connectors. Holding board seats on competing startups creates a greater conflict of interest than merely investing, because directors receive sensitive strategic information.

The DOJ’s action invokes Section 8 of the Clayton Act, a 112‑year‑old statute that bars individuals from serving on the boards of competing companies. Regulators have rarely applied this rule to venture capital, so the industry is watching closely. If a16z must relinquish a seat, founders may discount the value of board commitments from top‑tier VCs, anticipating possible forced step‑downs when portfolio overlap creates future conflicts.

Andreessen Horowitz, Databricks, and the DOJ declined to comment. The firm could mitigate the conflict by instituting a “Chinese wall” between Horowitz and Casado, preventing them from sharing confidential information about the two companies.