Nvidia AI chips are a ‘major bottleneck’ but that doesn’t mean regulatory action, EU says

“We have asked them questions, but this is really only preliminary,” she told Bloomberg during a trip to Singapore. So far, this “would not meet the criteria of a regulatory action.”

Nvidia has attracted regulators’ attention since it became the biggest beneficiary of the artificial intelligence spending boom. Its graphics processing units – or GPUs – are prized by data center operators for their ability to process the vast amounts of information needed to develop AI models.

The chips have become one of the most sought-after commodities in the technology world, with cloud computing providers competing with each other for access to them. Nvidia’s in-demand H100 processors are estimated to have helped it grab a market share of over 80 percent, outpacing rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Despite the supply shortage, Vestager said secondary markets for the supply of AI chips could help stimulate innovation and fair competition.

However, it warned that market-dominant companies could face certain restrictions on their behaviour in the future.

“When you have such a dominant position in the market, you can’t do things that a small company can do,” she said. “But other than that, as long as you run your business and respect it, everything’s fine.”