Dec 30 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Nvidia has

completed its acquisition of Israeli AI firm Run:ai, the startup

said on Monday, following antitrust scrutiny over the buyout.

The European Commission granted unconditional approval to

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) $700 million bid for Run:ai, which helps developers

optimize infrastructure for AI, earlier in December after saying

in October that the deal would require EU antitrust clearance.

The EU antitrust watchdog had warned that the deal

threatened competition in the markets where the companies

operate.

Its probe into the deal focused on practices that could

strengthen Nvidia's ( NVDA ) control over the market for graphics

processing units (GPUs), which are the sought-after chips often

employed in AI-linked tasks.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) dominates the market for AI graphics processors and

commands about 80% of its share.

However, the European Commission concluded earlier in

December that Run:ai's acquisition, originally announced in

April, would not raise competition concerns.

The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the

chip giant's buyout of Run:ai on antitrust grounds, Politico had

reported in August.

Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have recently

stepped up their scrutiny of tech giants' acquisitions of

startups on concerns that such deals may shut down potential

rivals.

Run:ai plans to make its software open-source, it said in a

blog post.

"While Run:ai currently supports only Nvidia GPUs, open

sourcing the software will enable it to extend its availability

to the entire AI ecosystem," it said.