China Accuses Nvidia of Breaking Antitrust Laws, Intensifying US Trade Dispute

China has accused US tech giant Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly laws, escalating the trade standoff between the two countries. The announcement by Chinese regulators coincided with ongoing trade talks between US and Chinese diplomats in Madrid. The US Commerce Department recently added two Chinese chipmakers to the Entity List, restricting their access to US semiconductor technology.

Both China and the US have been responding to each other's trade actions as tensions remain high. The US has limited exports of key AI technology equipment to China, while China has been slow in providing rare-earth minerals. China's latest move against Nvidia is seen as a strong action, possibly signaling a disagreement with recent promises made by the Trump administration to allow Nvidia chips into China.

President Trump had negotiated a deal with Nvidia and AMD, requiring them to pay a percentage of their semiconductor sales revenue to the US government in exchange for licenses to export certain technology to China. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who made the deal with Trump, is scheduled to meet the President during his visit to the UK. It remains uncertain whether China will take action against Nvidia, as the Chinese market regulator plans to conduct further investigations.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation stated that Nvidia had breached the conditions of its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, approved by China in 2020. Nvidia's stock dropped after the announcement. The White House had previously blocked the export of certain AI chips to China, including Nvidia's H20 chips. However, a recent agreement allows Nvidia and AMD to obtain export licenses to resume sales of these chips in China.

Despite the US opening up sales of H20 chips to China, concerns remain about China's acceptance of the chips due to security reasons. There are suspicions that China may access the chips through unofficial channels, potentially contributing to advancements in Chinese AI technology.