In a surprise dawn operation, French antitrust authorities executed a raid on a prominent graphics card company in the country, with strong indications pointing to NVIDIA as the target. While NVIDIA has declined to comment on the situation, here’s what is known so far:
The French Competition Authority conducted an unexpected raid on Wednesday morning, targeting “a company suspected of having implemented anticompetitive practices in the graphics cards sector.” The regulator’s brief press release provided limited details, but it is part of a broader investigation into the health of the cloud computing market. The primary focus of this inquiry is to determine whether newer companies face unfair disadvantages when competing with established industry giants. The investigation’s findings, released in June, revolved around Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, identifying concerns about the ease with which new operators can gain market share.
Notably, NVIDIA was not initially mentioned in the context of the cloud investigation. However, the company has enjoyed considerable financial success, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The demand for NVIDIA’s AI chips and data center solutions has surged, with the company significantly exceeding earnings expectations. In the second quarter of 2023, NVIDIA recorded $13.51 billion in revenue, a substantial leap from the $6.7 billion generated in the same period the previous year.
It is important to note that a regulatory raid does not automatically imply guilt of anticompetitive behavior. It signifies a robust step taken by the regulatory body to investigate potential violations. The situation will likely evolve as more information becomes available, shedding light on the outcome of the investigation and its implications for NVIDIA.
