Afrigather Final month, Nvidia briefly grew to become the world’s most useful firm, reaching a market capitalisation of $3.3tn. Behind the corporate’s meteoric rise to the highest lies its market dominance in superior AI chips.
As soon as predominantly-known for its high-performance graphic processing items (GPUs) for gaming, Nvidia tapped its technological strengths to enterprise into the AI race.
Its GPUs excel at parallel processing, simulations, and machine studying duties, which makes them appropriate for the coaching and deployment of AI fashions such ChatGPT.
One other huge energy for Nvidia is the CUDA chip programming platform and software program ecosystem, which has established the corporate because the foremost provider of GPU computing, particularly for accelerating machine studying workloads.
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Analysts estimate that the tech large accounts for a 70%-85% share of the AI chips market. This market dominance has put Nvidia within the EU’s crosshairs.
Elevating eyebrows within the EU
In a report final week, the French antitrust regulator, the Authorité de la concurrence, expressed considerations about potential anti-competitive practices within the generative AI sector. It highlighted the chance of chip suppliers abusing their market energy.
The authority voiced specific considerations over the business’s reliance on Nvidia’s CUDA software program in addition to the corporate’s latest investments in AI-focused cloud suppliers equivalent to CoreWeave.
The French regulator additionally listed various dangers inside the upstream chip worth chain, the place it locations Nvidia. These embrace denying or limiting developer’s entry to chips, which might result in “delays or the introduction of much less bold fashions, thereby undermining efficient competitors available in the market,” the authority said.
In line with folks accustomed to the matter who spoke to Reuters, the regulator is planning to formally cost Nvidia for allegedly anti-competitive behaviour. This might mark the primary time a nationwide enforcer is taking authorized motion towards the tech firm.
The developments observe a September raid of Nvidia’s offices in France as a part of the authority’s investigation into cloud computing competitors.
Nvidia was additionally reportedly topic of an off-the-cuff EU probe into suspected monopolistic practices within the AI chip sector.
Because the EU is pushing for digital sovereignty and the increase of its domestic chip production, it’s not unlikely that Nvidia’s market dominance will entice the (official) consideration of the European Fee — which is already cracking down on big tech.
The focus of superior AI chip provide into the fingers of a US-based tech large might hinder the bloc’s ambitions by resulting in potential dangers equivalent to manufacturing restrictions, unfair contractual phrases, and even worth manipulation.
The French regulator’s subsequent transfer might provoke a domino impact on nationwide and EU-wide reactions alike.
