China accuses Nvidia of violating antimonopoly laws following preliminary investigation

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LONDON (AP) — China accused Nvidia on Monday of violating the country’s antimonopoly laws and said it would step up scrutiny of the world’s leading chipmaker, escalating tensions with Washington as the two countries hold trade talks this week.

Chinese regulators said they would carry out “further investigation” into Nvidia after a preliminary investigation found that the company breached regulations when it made a years-old acquisition.

The one-sentence statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation statement said the investigation centered on Nvidia’s purchase of network and data transmission company Mellanox Technologies.

Nvidia didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.

Regulators said last year that they were investigating the company for suspected violations stemming from the $6.9 billion acquisition of Mellanox that was completed in 2020.

The decision ratchets up pressure on the U.S. as officials from Washington hold trade talks in Spain with Beijing's representatives, and follows other moves by Beijing to increase scrutiny of the U.S. chip industry.

On Saturday, China's Ministry of Commerce said it was carrying out an antidumping investigation into certain analog IC chips imported from the U.S., including commodity chips commonly made by companies such as Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor.

The ministry also announced a separate antidiscrimination probe into U.S. measures against China’s chip sector.

In talks scheduled to run from Sunday to Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid for negotiations on tariffs and national security issues related to the ownership of social media platform TikTok.

It's the fourth round of discussions after meetings in London, Geneva and Stockholm. The two governments have agreed to several 90-day pauses on a series of increasing reciprocal tariffs, staving off an all-out trade war.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia, the world's most valuable semiconductor maker, has become central to the U.S.-China trade war, as the two sides battle for tech supremacy.

The company has faced restrictions on chip exports to China imposed by President Joe Biden’s administration that were then reinforced by President Donald Trump.