Investing.com — The European Commission has given its approval to Nvidia (NASDAQ:)’s acquisition of Israeli firm Run:ai, removing a significant regulatory obstacle for the deal. The Commission concluded on Friday that the acquisition would not pose a threat to competition.
The Commission’s decision was based on the fact that Nvidia, a leading artificial intelligence company, would not have the ability or incentive to disrupt the compatibility of its sought-after graphic processing units (GPUs) with the software of its competitors. The European Union’s merger watchdog had set a deadline of December 20 to determine whether to approve the deal or initiate a comprehensive investigation.
Nvidia, a major chip manufacturer, has been under increased scrutiny this year from global antitrust regulators who are keen to prevent a small number of existing tech giants from dominating emerging technology and stifling potential competitors.
Nvidia’s deal with Run:ai, which was announced in April, came to the attention of the EU after Italian regulators referred it to the Commission. This referral was made using a legal tool that European regulators are employing to examine so-called killer acquisitions that fall below the usual thresholds for merger investigations.
The EU regulator investigated whether the deal would affect the supply of discrete GPUs used in data centers and the market for GPU orchestration software. The regulator found that Run:ai does not currently hold a significant position in the orchestration software market. The regulator also noted that customers would still be able to access the services of Run:ai’s competitors or develop their own software in-house.
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