Chipmaker Nvidia has completed its US$700 million (about S$952 million) acquisition of Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) firm Run:ai, the startup announced on Monday, Dec 30.
This development follows months of regulatory scrutiny, including an in-depth probe by the European Commission. According to Reuters, earlier in December, the European Commission approved Nvidia’s US$700 million bid for Run:ai.
This followed an earlier statement in October that the deal would require antitrust clearance due to concerns that it could threaten competition in the markets in which both companies operate.
The investigation examined whether the deal might give Nvidia more control over the GPU market, where it already holds about 80% of the share.
GPUs are widely used in AI tasks. Despite these concerns, the European Commission decided in December that the acquisition, first announced in April, would not harm competition.
The US Department of Justice is also reviewing Nvidia’s acquisition of Run:ai for potential antitrust issues, according to an August report by Politico.
Regulators in the US and Europe have increased their focus on acquisitions by major tech firms, worried these deals could block competition.
Run:ai has announced plans to make its software open-source, stating this will allow it to work across the broader AI ecosystem, not just with Nvidia GPUs. /TISG
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