Nvidia Breached Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) found that Nvidia has violated the country’s anti-monopoly law. A statement by SAMR claims that Nvidia violated the country’s anti-monopoly law related to its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies in 2020. The agency stated it decided to conduct a further investigation into the Mellanox deal in accordance with the law.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated the timing of SAMR’s finding may also have been an attempt to gain leverage during the trade discussions between the US and China, which could include discussions on chip exports. The preliminary ruling also may have been in retaliation for the administration of US President Donald Trump putting 23 China-based companies on a trade blacklist last week.

Due to China’s antitrust law, companies can be hit with fines of between 1% and 10% of their annual sales from the year prior. In August, Chinese authorities warned domestic companies to avoid buying Nvidia’s AI chips. Company CEO Jensen Huang made multiple visits to China this year to maintain market relations despite restrictions on advanced chip sales and has also met with Trump several times. Last month, Nvidia and AMD reached an agreement with the US government to restart sales of their AI chips to China.