Nvidia, the leading chipmaker, is under investigation by Chinese regulators over alleged antitrust violations.
Reports suggest the inquiry centers around claims that Nvidia failed to comply with conditions tied to China’s approval of its $6.9 billion acquisition of Israeli network hardware company Mellanox in 2020.
One key allegation involves Nvidia’s supposed failure to share new Mellanox product information with other Chinese chipmakers within 90 days, a condition set to prevent monopolistic practices. The investigation comes as Nvidia faces growing scrutiny on multiple fronts, with the U.S. Justice Department also probing the company for potential anti-competitive behavior.
This isn’t Nvidia’s first time in the spotlight for reshaping the tech landscape. Following its Mellanox acquisition, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang outlined the company’s vision of treating entire data centers as computing units, rather than focusing on individual servers or PCs. “Going forward, I believe the world is going to think about data centers as a computing unit,” Huang said in 2020. That shift aligned perfectly with the surge in demand for AI chips and servers, propelling Nvidia’s market value from under $200 billion to a staggering $3 trillion in 2024—making it more valuable than Microsoft, Apple, and Google.
However, Nvidia’s meteoric rise has also brought new challenges. Last week, the Biden administration imposed additional sanctions on China to curb the production of advanced AI chips, while also restricting the export capabilities of U.S. companies like Nvidia. In response, China introduced its own limitations on exporting key minerals vital to chip production, escalating tensions between the two countries.
As Nvidia navigates this complex landscape, the Chinese investigation and concurrent U.S. scrutiny highlight the mounting pressure on the chip giant. With both countries locked in a broader tech and trade rivalry, Nvidia finds itself at the intersection of global competition and regulation, facing questions about its business practices and its role in shaping the future of AI-driven technology.
