EU antitrust regulators are reviewing Nvidia's (NVDA.US) $7bn acquisition of run:ai, while they are also asking Nvidia customers whether they receive discounts when buying the company's graphics processing unit (GPU) software products along with hardware.
The EU regulator is focusing on potential practices that could strengthen Nvidia's control of the GPU market, where the company has nearly 84% of the market share, far ahead of rivals Intel (INTC.US) and AMD (AMD.US).
GPUs are chips that break down computer tasks into smaller parts and process them together. Tech companies' data centers, video game console makers, and even bitcoin miners are highly coveting them.
The EU Commission, the EU's competition enforcement agency, had previously warned that the deal threatened competition in the companies' markets and set a deadline of December 20 for its initial review.
The Commission asked Nvidia's customers in a document: "Does a company that offers GPU orchestration software and hardware/GPU bundling have a competitive advantage?" "Do you know if end users are required or induced (e.g., discounts) to buy bundled GPU orchestration software with software or other hardware?"
Respondents were also asked about the impact of the deal if Nvidia were to run run:ai as open-source software.