Margrethe Vestager, head of competition at the European Union, has expressed concerns about a "massive bottleneck" in the supply of artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia Corp, a situation that has caught the attention of regulators. During an interview with Bloomberg on her trip to Singapore, Vestager mentioned that they are in the preliminary stages of investigation, asking initial questions that could lead to regulatory action in the future.
Nvidia has been the focus of regulators since becoming the main beneficiary of the AI spending boom. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are highly valued in data centers for their ability to handle the large volumes of information needed to develop AI models. These chips have become some of the most sought-after products in the tech sector, with cloud computing providers fiercely competing for them.
Dominant Position
Nvidia's H100 processing units, in particular, have enabled the company to capture a market share of over 80%, surpassing competitors such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). Despite the supply constraints, Vestager noted that secondary markets in AI chip supply could promote innovation and fair competition.
However, she also warned that companies with a dominant position, like Nvidia, could face restrictions in their future behavior. "If you have that kind of dominant market position, there are things you cannot do that smaller companies can," Vestager stated. "But other than that, as long as they do their business and respect it, they will be fine".
