China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Nvidia

The move by Chinese regulators came a week after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced U.S. technology to China.

China’s antimonopoly regulator announced on Monday that it was investigating potential violations of antitrust law by Nvidia, the American company that makes the vast majority of the computer chips that power artificial intelligence systems.

The probe, a rare move by Beijing, comes a week after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China. In response, the Chinese government last week announced it would ban the export of several rare minerals to the United States and imposed sanctions on more than a dozen U.S. defense firms and defense industry executives.

Together, the moves by Beijing signal its willingness to engage in supply chain warfare as the policy war over trade and the control of technology escalates between the world’s two largest economies.

Nvidia’s dominance over the essential building blocks of advanced A.I. systems has helped it become one of the world’s most valuable companies over the past year.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said on Monday that it was investigating Nvidia for violating commitments made during its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, an American company that makes computer networking equipment. The Chinese regulator approved Nvidia’s acquisition of the company in 2020 with conditions to prevent anti-competitive practices and ensure supplies to China.

The officials in Washington who have sought to control China’s access to advanced computer chips say the technology is essential not just for smartphones and chatbots but also for military superiority. They have tried to prevent Chinese companies from buying advanced computer chips and the machines to make them.