The French competition authority is closing in on the end of its Nvidia investigation after raids in 2023 and scrutiny of the chipmaker’s CUDA software ecosystem.
France’s competition authority said its investigation into Nvidia over alleged anti-competitive practices is nearing completion, marking a late stage in a probe that began with unannounced raids on the company’s Paris and Nice offices in September 2023. The authority formally confirmed the case in July 2024 after publishing an opinion the previous month that highlighted industry dependence on Nvidia’s proprietary CUDA software platform, which it described as the only fully compatible software for key GPUs. No charges or end date have been disclosed, but an adverse finding could expose Nvidia to fines of up to 10% of global revenue. The case is being closely watched because Nvidia’s GPUs underpin AI model training, high-performance computing and some cryptocurrency mining and blockchain-related AI workloads, meaning any remedy affecting its software ecosystem could have wider effects across the hardware market.