Graphics card producer NVIDIA noticed its two French headquarters, situated in Paris and Good, raided on Tuesday by the Competitors Authority, France’s antitrust watchdog.
The regulator introduced that it had performed “an surprising go to and seizure operation at an organization suspected of implementing anti-competitive practices within the graphics card sector.”
Experiences from native media Challenges later indicated that the corporate in query was NVIDIA, indicating that the operation was approved by the freedom and detention decide (JLD) and aimed to assemble proof throughout the context of suspicions of “anti-competitive practices.”
Traditionally identified for its graphics playing cards and applied sciences similar to DLSS, Nvidia has established itself within the cloud sector, notably supplying server GPUs.
As of at present, the overwhelming majority of semiconductors used for coaching AI fashions worldwide rely on two corporations: Nvidia for design, and the Taiwanese TSMC for manufacturing.
It is also noteworthy that Nvidia, via its GeForce Now service, performs an important position in cloud gaming, having struck a decade-long cope with Microsoft to characteristic Xbox video games.
The French antitrust watchdog additional clarified that this motion under no circumstances pre-judges the corporate’s guilt relating to the alleged practices.
Reached for remark by Decrypt, NVIDIA refused to remark. The French Competitors Authority didn’t reply instantly.
Nvidia beneath scrutiny
This shock examine is linked to a bigger, months-long probe into how the cloud trade works. In June, the French Competitors Authority revealed an investigation into the cloud market.
Throughout a press occasion, its president, Benoît Coeuré, then stated that American corporations like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google “are able to hindering the event of competitors” within the cloud market.
In 2021, the three corporations “would have captured 80% of the expansion in spending on public cloud infrastructure and functions” in France, that means your complete vary of distant computing companies accessible to companies.
The Competitors Authority has additionally highlighted challenges within the sector, together with points for corporations wanting to change suppliers, assessing totally different service prices, and entry limitations confronted by smaller cloud suppliers.
With the burgeoning development of the factitious intelligence trade, NVIDIA has witnessed a considerable uptick in its revenues.
In response to its most up-to-date monetary assertion, the tech large introduced a income of $13.51 billion in its second fiscal quarter of 2023, marking a 101% surge in comparison with the earlier yr.
Highlighting its pivotal position within the improvement of superior instruments like ChatGPT, NVIDIA’s valuation exceeded the $1 trillion benchmark this previous Might.