China accuses Nvidia of breaking anti-monopoly rules ahead of trade talks with US

• China’s market regulator (SAMR) has launched a probe into Nvidia
• It alludes to violations of agreements made during the Mellanox acquisition
• Nvidia shares are down 2-3%, the company has not yet responded

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has accused Nvidia of violating an anti-monopoly law, launching a preliminary probe into the US tech giant.

The violations allege that Nvidia has broken commitments made in 2020 when it acquired Mellanox Technologies for $6.9 billion, however details of the violations have not been shared.

If found guilty, Nvidia could face a fine worth between 1% and 10% of its prior year sales in a market that’s hugely important to it (accounting for around 13% of its total revenue last fiscal year).