Beijing drops Google probe, shifts focus to Nvidia in US trade talks: Report
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China has accused California-based Nvidia of violating its anti-monopoly law.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- China is ending its antitrust probe into Google amid US-China trade talks, according to the Financial Times.
- The move is seen as a tactical shift, focusing regulatory attention on Nvidia instead of Google.
- Google has not been formally notified, and declined to comment on the report.
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BEIJING – China is ending an antitrust probe into Google, as trade talks between Beijing and Washington pick up over TikTok and Nvidia amid rising tensions between the two countries, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sept 18.
The move signals a tactical shift by Beijing, redirecting regulatory focus to Nvidia as leverage in the US-China trade talks, and sending a message of flexibility to Washington by ending the probe into Google, the newspaper said.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, which opened the investigation
Google declined to comment to FT.
The company, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation and China’s State Council did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The regulator had earlier said that Google was suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law, without providing further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.
Google has not been formally notified of the decision to drop the probe, the FT report said.
Earlier this week, China accused Nvidia
The two countries have traded barbs over the past six months since US President Donald Trump hit China with massive tariffs, before lowering them to 30 per cent, and threatened to shut down popular social media app TikTok.
China responded with 10 per cent tariffs and antitrust probes against the likes of Alphabet’s Google, signalling more regulatory scrutiny on US companies. REUTERS
