Nvidia’s acquisition of UK chip design company Arm from SoftBank has provoked serious opposition on both sides of the Atlantic.
The deal, first announced in September 2020, has been bogged down in regulatory reviews around the world, and is set to miss its initial timeframe to close by March 2022. This week, Nvidia’s financial results were overshadowed by the deal after the UK government ordered an in-depth investigation on competition and national security grounds, which could take several months.
Why do the regulators seem to dislike this deal so much?
Arm holds an unusual position in the global tech industry. It doesn’t make chips itself, but its designs formed the basic blueprints for 25bn chips made by other companies last year. Some competitors have complained that after a takeover, Nvidia would be able to limit their access to Arm’s designs in favour of its own products.