BEIJING: China stated on Monday (Dec 9) it has launched an investigation into Nvidia over suspected violations of the nation’s anti-monopoly legislation, in a transfer broadly seen as retaliation towards Washington’s newest curbs on China’s chip sector.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) assertion asserting the investigation doesn’t clarify how the US firm, identified for its synthetic intelligence (AI) and gaming chips, could have violated China’s antimonopoly legal guidelines .
It stated the US chipmaker is, moreover, suspected of violating commitments it made throughout its acquisition of Israeli chipmaker Mellanox Technologies below phrases outlined within the regulator’s 2020 conditional approval of that deal.
Nvidia didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The firm’s shares fell 2.2% in premarket buying and selling in New York after the Chinese regulator’s announcement.
The investigation comes after the United States final week launched its third crackdown in three years on China’s semiconductor trade, which noticed Washington curb exports to 140 corporations, together with chip tools makers.
In an indication that China intends to react forcefully towards the most recent transfer, shortly after Washington’s announcement, Beijing banned exports of the important minerals gallium, germanium and antimony to the United States.
On the identical day, 4 of the nation’s main trade associations issued a uncommon, coordinated response saying Chinese corporations ought to be cautious about shopping for U.S. chips as a result of they’re “now not secure” and purchase regionally as an alternative.
Nvidia was certainly one of many corporations caught up within the friction between the United States and China. An earlier spherical of export restrictions by the United States prevented Nvidia from promoting its most superior AI chips to China, prompting it to supply new China-specific variations that complied with U.S. export controls.
