China has opened an antitrust investigation into US chipmaker Nvidia, according to Chinese state television, bringing one of the most important companies in AI hardware deeper into the US-China technology conflict.
The investigation focuses on Nvidia’s acquisition of Israeli networking company Mellanox, a deal China approved in 2020. The timing matters because both countries are now tightening their positions around chips, chip materials and domestic semiconductor production.
Why the Mellanox deal matters now
The probe is centered on a transaction that has already passed through China’s approval process. Nvidia’s acquisition of Mellanox was approved in 2020, but Chinese state television reports that it is now the subject of an antitrust investigation.
That makes the case important for more than one company. Nvidia is valued at over $3 trillion, is the world’s second most valuable company and is the leading supplier of AI chips. Any regulatory action involving Nvidia therefore sits close to the center of the AI infrastructure market.
Mellanox is described in the source as an Israeli networking company. The investigation’s focus on that acquisition puts networking and AI chip supply in the same frame, because modern AI systems depend not only on chips but also on the systems that connect and move data between them.
The probe lands inside a wider chip conflict
The investigation is the latest escalation in the US-China technology conflict. The source connects the probe directly to recent US restrictions on memory chip sales to China and China’s response involving critical chip materials.
The sequence described is straightforward:
- The US recently imposed new restrictions on memory chip sales to China.
- China responded by banning exports of critical chip materials like germanium and gallium.
- China has now opened an antitrust investigation into Nvidia.
Each step targets a different part of the chip supply chain. Memory chips, materials such as germanium and gallium, AI chips and networking assets are not the same thing, but they all sit inside the same strategic technology contest described in the source.
That is why the Nvidia investigation is not just a company-specific legal development. It is also part of a broader pattern in which chip access, chip production and chip-related materials are becoming tools of pressure between the two countries.
Why Nvidia is exposed
Nvidia’s position makes the investigation especially visible. The company is the leading supplier of AI chips, and its market value is over $3 trillion. The source also identifies Nvidia as the world’s second most valuable company.
That scale means regulatory attention can quickly become market attention. Nvidia’s stock dropped nearly 2 percent in premarket trading after the investigation was reported.
The move shows how closely investors are watching chip policy. A regulatory probe in China, restrictions from the US and export bans on materials are different kinds of actions, but all can affect expectations around the future of the AI chip market.
For Nvidia, the issue is not only that China is looking again at the Mellanox acquisition. The larger point is that Nvidia’s role in AI chips puts it at the intersection of business, regulation and national technology strategy.
Both countries are building chip capacity
The source also notes that both countries are heavily investing in domestic chip production. The US is funding the CHIPS Act, while China has created a new $47.5 billion state fund.
Those investments show that the dispute is not limited to bans or investigations. Both sides are also trying to strengthen their own chip production base. That gives the Nvidia probe a broader backdrop: each country is seeking more control over the technologies and materials that support advanced computing.
For the AI sector, the implication is clear. Chipmakers, networking suppliers and material exporters are all operating in a more contested environment. When a company as central as Nvidia faces an antitrust investigation in China, it signals that AI hardware is no longer only a question of performance or demand.
It is also a question of market access, regulatory approval and state-backed industrial strategy. The facts in the source point to a chip race that is becoming more complex at every layer, from memory chip sales to critical materials, AI processors and domestic production funds.