French antitrust regulators are preparing to charge Nvidia with anti-competitive practices, the first such case in the computer chip industry. According to Reuters, this decision was made after surprise searches in the video card sector in September 2023, which were aimed at Nvidia. The measures are part of a wider investigation into cloud computing.

Nvidia, which is the world's largest manufacturer of artificial intelligence and computer graphics chips, has seen a significant increase in demand for its products after the release of an application for generating artificial intelligence, called ChatGPT. This has led to increased attention from regulators in both Europe and the US.

Last year, Nvidia was asked by regulators in the European Union, China and France for information about its graphics cards. The French watchdog has expressed outrage over the risk of abuse of a dominant market position by chip suppliers.

The regulator's staff drew particular attention to the dependence on Nvidia's CUDA software, which is the only one fully compatible with its graphics processors and is necessary for accelerated computing.

They also raised concerns about Nvidia's recent investments in AI-focused cloud providers, such as CoreWeave.

Violations of French antitrust regulations can result in fines of up to 10% of the company's annual global turnover. However, Nvidia may try to avoid these fines through concessions with regulators.

The U.S. Department of Justice is also heavily involved in the Nvidia investigation, as it has the power to oversee big technology companies along with the Federal Trade Commission.