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China finds Nvidia ( NVDA ) violated anti-monopoly law, details

unspecified

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) suspected of breaching Mellanox acquisition

commitments

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China-U.S. trade talks in Madrid include Nvidia ( NVDA ) chip

discussions

By Eduardo Baptista and Liam Mo

BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) -

China's market regulator on Monday said that a preliminary

investigation had found that U.S. chip giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) had violated

the country's anti-monopoly law.

The brief statement from the State Administration for

Market Regulation did not elaborate on how the U.S. company,

known for its artificial intelligence and gaming chips, might

have violated China's anti-monopoly laws.

China in December

launched an investigation

into Nvidia ( NVDA ) over what it said were suspected violations of

the country's anti-monopoly law, a probe that was widely seen as

a retaliatory shot against Washington's curbs on the Chinese

chip sector.

The Chinese regulator also said the U.S. chipmaker was also

suspected of violating commitments it made during its

acquisition of Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies,

under terms outlined in its 2020 conditional approval of that

deal.

The SAMR on Monday added that it would continue its

investigations. Nvidia ( NVDA ) did not immediately respond to a request

for comment.

According to China's antitrust law, companies can face

fines of between 1% and 10% of their annual sales from the

previous year. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia ( NVDA )

in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales,

based on its latest annual report.

The Chinese market regulator's announcement comes as the

U.S. and China hold

trade talks

in Madrid where chips including the ones made by Nvidia ( NVDA ) are

expected to be on the agenda.