The country has launched an antitrust probe against the leading chipmaker, Nvidia, as it escalates its response against U.S. sanctions on Chinese technology firms. According to Chinese state media, the State Administration for Market Regulation is probing Nvidia for breaches of anti-monopoly laws. Its $6.9bn takeover of Mellanox Technologies, approved in 2020, will also be scrutinized by the new investigation; at the time, the acquisition was given permission with certain conditions, including forbidding discrimination against Chinese suppliers.
Nvidia, which makes complex chips that power AI, has a market capitalization of more than $3.4 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. Its dominance in the AI chip sector has attracted scrutiny from regulators around the world, including the United States, where the Department of Justice reportedly initiated its own antitrust investigation earlier this year.
After news of the probe, Nvidia shares shed 2.55 percent. So far, the company hasn’t commented on the investigation. It comes just after the US Department of Commerce announced a new wave of export controls aimed at stopping advanced technology from being sold to the Chinese chip industry, adding 140 Chinese firms to its Entity List of blacklisted companies.
In retaliation, China recently banned the export of gallium, germanium, and antimony—key materials for chips and batteries—targeting the U.S. Ian Chong, a political scientist, noted that China’s actions are often symbolic rather than impactful, as they frequently target specific companies to express discontent.
Nvidia remains subject to U.S. export controls but adjusted by designing separate chips for sale in China, where it brings in roughly 15% of its revenue. Other US companies, such as Intel and Micron, are under their own forms of scrutiny from Chinese regulators amid ongoing trade tensions.
