EU Antitrust Review of Nvidia's Acquisition of Run:ai

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators are set to decide on U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Israeli AI startup Run:ai by December 20. This information was revealed in a filing by the European Commission.

Last month, the EU antitrust watchdog expressed concerns that the acquisition could threaten competition within the markets in which these companies operate, necessitating Nvidia to seek approval before finalizing the deal.

The European Commission has several options: it can either clear the deal with or without remedies during its initial review, or it may initiate a more in-depth, four-month investigation if it has significant concerns.

Concerns regarding 'killer acquisitions'—where large firms acquire startups to shut them down—have been raised by antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years.

Nvidia, known for its critical processors in the chip industry that power AI applications like training models for ChatGPT, announced the acquisition of Run:ai in April, with a valuation of approximately $700 million, according to a Tech Crunch report.