The State Administration for Market Regulation of China has ruled that Nvidia violated antitrust regulations in its $7B acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, a networking supplier acquired in 2020. While no penalties have yet been announced, Beijing confirmed that its investigation will continue, intensifying the already fragile trade relationship between the U.S. and China.
The decision arrives as tariff negotiations between the two countries take place in Madrid, with semiconductor access — particularly to Nvidia’s AI chips — remaining a contentious issue. Recent shifts in U.S. export controls under both the Biden and Trump administrations have left the future of AI chip sales to China uncertain. Nvidia has stated that it will continue to comply with legal requirements and cooperate with regulators.
