China has reopened its research on Google and Nvidia for having violated antitrust laws and plans to launch a similar probe against Intel, reports Financial time. These actions could cause heavy fines or restricted access to the Chinese market. However, surveys may be linked to trade tensions between China and the United States and have been restarted before a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, so that the reunion could be a way to win a lever effect in talks.
The Google survey focuses on its Android operating system and if it is unjustly disadvantage the manufacturers of Chinese smartphones like Oppo and Xiaomi, who depend on Google Software for their devices. The regulators examine whether the domination of the Google market harms these companies. The original exam started in 2019 but was put aside for years. It was restarted in December and representatives of the State administration for market regulations (SAMR) visited the Google office in Beijing in January.
NVIDIA is surveyed on the potential violations of commitments made when taking control of the networking of networking in 2019 in 2019 Mellanox Technologies. The Chinese competition authority approved the acquisition in 2020 under conditions intended to prevent monopolistic behavior and to ensure stable supply to Chinese customers. However, shortly after approval, the authority began to collect complaints from the industry, although it was not clear if it has collected enough evidence of the anti -competitive behavior of the Green Society.
The potential Intel survey is less clear, because no official confirmation was made that it started. If launched, the survey could target the business practices of the company in China, its largest world market, where it commands the share of the processor market.
Chinese government’s actions coincide with the increase in friction between the United States and China. President Donald Trump presented new prices Against Chinese goods and China’s response may include the use of competition laws as a counter-measure. In addition, the United States is increasing its efforts to limit the development of China in the AI and HPC sectors, so that the investigation into three major American companies could also be a form of response. However, a researcher from the University of Tsinghua noted that if this tactic could serve as a negotiation tool, it also risks controversy, because not only American companies depend on the Chinese market, but Chinese companies also depend on American technologies .
According to the Financial Times, Google and Nvidia have refused to comment on the investigations so far, while Intel has not responded to requests for information. Chinese competition regulators and the Ministry of Commerce also remained tight on this subject.