NVIDIA’s headquarters in France was raided by government officials seeking irregularities and evidence following investigations into antitrust practices by the corporation.
French authorities have had Jensen Huang’s company in their sights since September 2023, when they began a deeper look into cloud computing. Their untouched dominance in the GPU and artificial intelligence markets has intensified their scrutiny, leading to the surprise raid.
If irregularities are found, French authorities could impose a fine of up to 10% of NVIDIA’s global revenue over the past 12 months for taking advantage of loopholes in antitrust rules.
Reuters notes that, although it may sound unlikely, concessions could also be made to “avoid penalties.” However, this would be a complex decision considering that the chip and GPU maker has reached the top of the financial tech market with a market capitalization of $3.3 trillion.
In addition to France, NVIDIA is also being investigated by the United States Department of Justice – which shares the analysis with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to find antitrust practices that reinforce its leadership position in the industry.
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France investigates all NVIDIA activities
When the French investigation began in 2023, there was also a search and seizure operation, with NVIDIA refusing to issue a statement on the case. However, it confirmed that it submitted information about its graphics cards to regulatory bodies – such as the European Union, China and the French government.
The raid represents the first major action by a country and regulatory bodies regarding the anti-competitive behavior of Jensen Huang’s corporation. As of this writing, it has not been disclosed what they found during the raid and how long it will take for them to analyze the information obtained and reach a verdict.
For the French agency, NVIDIA’s forays into generative artificial intelligence have intensified the investigation. The government seeks to reduce the risk of chipmakers abusing the technology.
One of the biggest concerns is the corporation’s increased dependence on the market, especially on programming software for CUDA chips – the only system 100% compatible with GPUs that have become the flagship of the HPC and AI industry. With the corporation’s entry into cloud-based AI services, the decision to act was prioritized.
Fonte: TweakTown
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Source: https://www.adrenaline.com.br/nvidia/governo-da-franca-invade-sede-da-nvidia-no-pais-em-investigacao/
