Did Nvidia violate anti-monopoly law in China? Here’s what Beijing’s market regulator revealed amid trade tensions with US
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Did Nvidia violate anti-monopoly law in China? Here’s what Beijing’s market regulator revealed amid trade tensions with US")
The Nvidia logo is seen during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center in Shanghai on July 28, 2025. Photograph: (AFP)
The US chipmaker was found to be violating the antitrust regulations after it acquired networking gear maker Mellanox Technologies Ltd, according to the country’s market regulator.
China on Monday (Sep 15) said that Nvidia violated the country’s anti-monopoly law with a high-profile deal in 2020, according to a preliminary investigation. Beijing added that it would continue its investigation into the US chip giant. The recent development, which comes amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, may complicate the ongoing talks between the US and China that started on Sunday in Madrid, Spain.
The US chipmaker was found to be violating the antitrust regulations after it acquired networking gear maker Mellanox Technologies Ltd, as per the country’s market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation. Reportedly, Nvidia’s shares were down about 2 per cent in premarket trading.
The SAMR opened an investigation into Nvidia after it acquired the Israeli technology company, which creates network solutions for data centres and servers. The $7 billion deal, which happened in 2020, was approved by China on the condition that Nvidia not discriminate against Chinese companies. However, SAMR said that the preliminary probe found that the US chip maker violated China’s anti-monopoly laws related to its acquisition and conditions, without specifying how Nvidia breached the country’s laws or what corrective measures it seeks from the firm.
Earlier, the US imposed restrictions on Nvidia from selling its most advanced AI chips to Chinese firms, including the H100, over national security concerns. Nvidia redesigned its chips two times before it could sell them in the country in accordance with the US regulations.
Monday’s ruling comes weeks after the US President Donald Trump’s administration later agreed to allow Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to sell some of their AI chips to Chinese companies. However, Beijing cautioned its local companies against Nvidia’s H20 accelerator, citing security concerns.
Recently, China also said that it was launching an anti-dumping investigation into a certain type of US semiconductor firms, including Texas Instruments Inc. Its shares also fell around 2 per cent in pre-market trading.
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Meanwhile, Trump told reporters on Sunday that the talks in Madrid were “going fine”, but added that TikTok’s fate will be decided on Beijing’s actions. “We may let it die, or we may — I don’t know, it depends. Up to China,” the US president said.
