China Launches Additional Antitrust Probe into Nvidia over Semiconductor Acquisition

The Chinese government has decided to conduct an additional investigation into whether Nvidia's acquisition of a semiconductor company involves violations of antitrust laws and other regulations.

On September 15, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China announced on its official social media account, "A recent preliminary investigation found that Nvidia violated the 'Chinese Antitrust Law' and the 'Antitrust Review Decision Announcement on Conditional Approval of Nvidia's Acquisition of Mellanox Shares by the State Administration for Market Regulation.' As a result, we have decided to proceed with a further investigation."

In 2019, Nvidia acquired the Israeli semiconductor company Mellanox for 6.9 billion dollars (approximately 9.6 trillion Korean won).

At that time, the Chinese government approved the merger with conditions, including the continued supply of Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators, Mellanox high-speed network interconnection equipment, and related software and accessories to the Chinese market.

Subsequently, Nvidia halted the supply of GPU accelerator products, citing U.S. government export controls. In response, the Chinese government launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia in December of last year.