China investigates US chip giant Nvidia for violating anti-monopoly law

China launched an investigation into American chip giant Nvidia for alleged violations of antimonopoly law on Monday, December 9, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced. The procedure against the semiconductor champion was initiated by the public market regulation services and also concerns the violation of a commitment made in 2020, during its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies Ltd. This announcement caused the shares of the Californian group, considered the standard-bearer of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, to fall on Monday. Nvidia is, in fact, by far the largest producer of graphics card chips (GPUs), which are considered essential to the development of generative AI. This investigation is part of an increasingly tense context between the world’s two leading economies, as Donald Trump returns to the White House in January 2025, who has already threatened Beijing to substantially increase customs duties on imports from China, raising fears of the return of an open trade war. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Faced with Trump’s threats, China prepared for shock despite its fragilities Read later Standoff Tuesday, December 3, Beijing announced restrictions on its exports of rare metals, notably gallium, germanium and antimony, materials essential to the design of solar panels and electronic chips used in many civil and military technologies. The two countries are competing for global technological domination, a standoff that was particularly virulent during Donald Trump’s first term. He then launched a trade war with China. Donald Trump’s second term, which will begin on January 20, should be in the same vein, and he has already threatened to increase customs duties, to encourage companies to repatriate all or part of their production in the United States. For its part, the Biden administration further restricted the export to China of semiconductors and equipment to manufacture them at the beginning of December, citing risks to the national security of the United States, and attracting the wrath of Beijing. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers China bans the sale of certain rare metals such as gallium and germanium in the United States Read later Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



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