France’s Antitrust Probe into Nvidia Nearing End, Regulator Says
Nearly three years after raiding the chipmaker’s offices, the Autórité de la concurrence signals a decision is close regarding its investigation into Nvidia.
July 9, 2026 – 11:53 am
Image by: Christopher Macsurak
France’s competition regulator has indicated that its long-running inquiry into Nvidia is nearly complete, bringing the world’s most valuable chipmaker closer to a formal reckoning over its market position.
Umberto Berkani, the general rapporteur of the Autórité de la concurrence, told reporters on Thursday, as quoted by Reuters, "We are nearing the end of the investigation." He did not provide a specific timeline for a ruling.
The case originated in September 2023 when French investigators raided Nvidia’s local offices as part of a broader inquiry into competition in the cloud computing sector. This raid transformed into a dedicated antitrust file focused directly on Nvidia.
In mid-2024, the authority published a market study on competition in generative AI, highlighting the industry’s reliance on Nvidia’s CUDA software, the programming layer that binds developers to its graphics processors.
Reuters reported later that year that the regulator was preparing to charge the company, making France the first jurisdiction to do so.
Two key aspects of the inquiry include:
- Reliance on CUDA: The sole compatible toolkit with Nvidia’s GPUs, essential for training large AI models.
- Nvidia’s investments in AI cloud providers: Concerns over potential market concentration as a result of these investments.
This dominance has drawn scrutiny globally, with regulators in the United States, European Union, and China all examining aspects of Nvidia’s conduct. It has also fueled concerns about European AI sovereignty and the continent’s reliance on American hardware.
French law dictates that a company accused of abusing a dominant position can be fined up to 10% of its global annual turnover. The authority may also impose behavioral remedies or accept binding commitments as an alternative to penalties.