AMD is the most infuriating company imaginable.

If Intel is the big dog of the chip world, AMD is the little dog jumping around it, nipping at its heels, acting like it (not Chipzilla) owns the street.

Its latest legal assault may be its dumbest move yet.

Strictly from a timing standpoint, it sucks.

This Administration does not look kindly at anti-trust claims. They settled with Microsoft, they gave the cables and Bells a duopoly (leaving America a third-world broadband country), and they seem content to let China monopolize world trade while India gains control of services. All this is in pursuit of an ideology that becomes less-and-less distinguishable from Putinism and Kleptocracy by the day.

Short form. If they had a case they should have filed it in Europe.

Second, the chip market is competitive, and AMD proves it. Its chips are fine, it's making inroads. Its biggest problem is it's supply-constrained, and Moore's Second Law means it will take billions and billions of dollars to make up the gap. That's why Apple went with Intel -- Intel can supply the whole market and AMD can't.

Third, this is a huge distraction. It's typical of AMD to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, has been ever since Jerry Sanders (and friends) founded it over 35 years ago.

What AMD will find is aggressive tactics by a market leader in a competitive market. It will spin this as evidence of monopoly and maybe, if it forum shops carefully, it will get a hearing. But it will never get a result.

Moore's Second Law means the costs of a legal offensive are not material on the cost structure of the overall company, so I guess they can afford it. I just wish they would do something useful.

Like sell-off to Dell.