Nvidia to be accused of ‘anti-competitive practices’: report

Nvidia is set to face charges from France’s antitrust regulator for alleged anti-competitive practices, according to sources close to the case. That makes the French regulator the first to take action against a leading computer chip company.

The French watchdog, in a report released last Friday on competition in generative AI, cited the risk of abuse by chip suppliers. It raised concerns about the sector’s reliance on Nvidia’s CUDA chip programming software, the only system that is 100% compatible with the graphics processing units that have become essential for accelerated computing. It also cited concerns about Nvidia’s recent investments in AI-focused cloud providers such as CoreWeave.

Companies risk fines of up to 10% of their annual global turnover for violating French antitrust rules, although they can also make certain concessions to avoid punishment.

The French statement of opposition, or chargesheet, would follow early raids in the graphics card sector last September, which sources said targeted Nvidia. The raids were the result of a broader investigation into cloud computing.

The French regulator publishes some, but not all, of its statements opposing the companies, and Nvidia declined to comment. The company said in a regulatory filing last year that regulators in the European Union, China and France had requested information about its graphics cards.

The European Commission is unlikely to extend its initial review for now, as the French regulator continues to investigate Nvidia, according to other people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The world’s largest maker of chips used in both artificial intelligence and computer graphics has seen demand for its chips surge following the launch of its AI app ChatGPT, prompting heightened regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.