China on Monday launched an investigation into US chip giant Nvidia Corp for allegedly violating its anti-monopoly laws, state broadcaster CCTV said.
The State Administration for Market Regulation, the authority on antitrust issues, launched the probe "in accordance with the law," according to CCTV.
Nvidia is also suspected of violating commitments it made in 2020, when it acquired Mellanox Technologies Ltd, CCTV said.
Photo: Reuters
After Beijing announced the probe, shares in Nvidia dropped 2.6 percent by Wall Street's close yesterday, precipitating a US stocks retreat.
"We are happy to answer any questions regulators may have about our business," an Nvidia spokesman said in a statement.
Nvidia succeeds "on merit... and customers can choose whatever solution is best for them," the California-based company added.
Nvidia’s position as the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) chips has put it in the crossfire of the US-China battle of tech supremacy. Washington has barred the company from selling its most advanced semiconductors to Chinese companies — undermining their ability to develop AI services — which has drawn sharp rebukes from Beijing.
Nvidia has repeatedly tried to develop AI chips that will comply with US controls and give Chinese customers some ability to work on the critical new technology.
Beijing last week said it would restrict exports to the US of some key components in making semiconductors, after Washington announced curbs targeting China’s ability to make advanced chips.
Among the materials banned from export are metals gallium, antimony and germanium, Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that cited "national security" concerns.
In its own latest curbs, Washington has announced restrictions on sales to 140 companies, including Chinese chip firms Piotech Inc (拓荊科技) and SiCarrier Technologies Co (新凱來), without additional permission.
The new US rules also include controls on two dozen types of chip-making equipment and three kinds of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors.
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
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