Nvidia under investigation in China

Today (December 9), China announced it was opening an investigation into Nvidia Corporation on suspicion that the US chip giant violated the country's anti-monopoly laws, according to CCTV.

Nvidia Blackwell GPUs

China's market regulator with antitrust authority has opened an investigation into Nvidia Corp.'s operations in the East Asian country, CCTV reported on December 9.

Nvidia is accused of violating commitments made in 2020, when the US corporation acquired Israeli technology company Mellanox for $6.9 billion.

Mellanox was then seen as key to enabling a strategic approach involving data centers that run artificial intelligence (AI), so the deal needed regulatory approval in the US, Israel, the European Union and China.

After a review period, China's market regulator approved the Mellanox deal in April 2020. It is unclear whether Nvidia violated any antitrust laws in China related to the commitment at that time.

Nvidia shares fell after China announced the investigation.

The incident comes amid tensions between the US and China in recent weeks over export restrictions related to chip manufacturing technology, of which Nvidia is a major player.

Beijing last week announced a ban on exports of some materials needed to make semiconductors to the United States, after Washington implemented measures to limit China's ability to produce high-power chips.

Among the materials banned from export by China are the metals gallium, antimony and germanium, citing national security concerns.

For its part, the US added the names of 140 Chinese companies to the chip export restriction list, including Piotech and SiCarrier.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nvidia-bi-dieu-tra-o-trung-quoc-185241209192857484.htm