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| Nvidia's acquisition of Arm is worrying Microsoft Google and Qualcomm |
Microsoft, Google and Qualcomm have raised concerns about Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, according to CNBC and Bloomberg reports.
The two companies have reached out to regulators in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and China about concerns that Nvidia will change the way Arm authorizes its chip-making technology.
Nvidia pledges not to use its control over the company to change the way it interacts with other business activities.
Huang Renxun, CEO of Nvidia, said in a letter to the Financial Times in Great Britain: It can be made clear that Nvidia will maintain an open licensing model.
Nvidia's rivals believe that keeping Arm neutral and not using its technology to acquire Nvidia conflicts with the $ 40 billion acquisition.
Licensing restrictions can negatively affect the advantages of companies that have the ability to license Arm technology.
They say: Google and Microsoft are developing their own chips based on ARM, and Qualcomm processors are based on that architecture.
Nvidia believes the acquisition aims to boost the development of artificial intelligence. This is the main area that Nvidia has focused on, from expanding machine learning from graphics cards to self-driving cars.
Low-power Arm technology can help Nvidia extend its AI to more sites, but it needs to know how to deal with other Arm companies (chipsets and laptops in particular).
Regulators appear to be watching this deal closely to see if it provides Nvidia with plenty of chipmaking opportunities.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is asking Nvidia and Arm to provide more information and may speak to other companies that may have relevant information.
Meanwhile, UK and EU officials have agreed to a full investigation of the deal.
And they're likely to hear a lot of opposition, not just from Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm, but from others in the chip industry who are concerned about the impact of the merger with the Arm's open licensing agreement.
These companies have experience with regulators and anti-competitive behavior.
Qualcomm has fined hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, to authorities in China, South Korea and the European Union over anti-competitive licensing policies.
Microsoft filed a large-scale monopoly lawsuit against the United States government in the 1990s.
Recently, Google has become the subject of increasing antitrust laws in the United States and the European Union.