- China's regulators say Nvidia broke antitrust laws, following a preliminary investigation.
- The regulator also said it would look at Nvidia's 2020 acquisition of Israeli chip designer Mellanox.
- Nvidia is at the heart of ongoing US-China tensions in the semiconductor industry.
Regulators in China said US chip giant Nvidia broke its antitrust laws, following a preliminary investigation.
The State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, said in a brief Monday statement that Nvidia violated anti-monopoly laws. It did not elaborate further.
The regulator also said it suspected Nvidia of violating commitments made during its 2020 acquisition of Israeli chip designer Mellanox, which Beijing had conditionally approved. SAMR then launched an antitrust probe into the Mellanox deal in December 2024.
"The State Administration for Market Regulation decided to conduct further investigation into it in accordance with the law," the regulator said in its statement.
Nvidia is at the heart of ongoing semiconductor industry tensions between the US and China.
The US began limiting China's access to high-tech chips in 2022.
In April, the US government announced a new export license requirement for Nvidia's H20 chip, which had been designed to comply with previous rules. The company said it expected a $5.5 billion hit in first-quarter earnings due to the new restrictions.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in May that China's AI market could be worth $50 billion in a few years' time, and that losing access to it would be a "tremendous loss" for his company.
In July, Nvidia said it was gearing up to sell its H20 chips in China again after receiving export assurances from the US government.
Nvidia could not immediately be reached for comment.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
