Nvidia completes its $700 million Run: ai acquisition following regulatory obstacles.

In the wake of antitrust criticism surrounding the transaction, chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) said on Monday that it has finalized its acquisition of Israeli AI company Run: ai.

Nvidia’s $700 million bid for Run: ai, which assists developers in optimizing infrastructure for AI, received unconditional permission from the European Commission earlier in December. In October, the European Commission had stated that EU antitrust clearance would be necessary for the purchase.

The merger harmed competition in the companies’ markets, according to a warning from the EU antitrust police.

Its investigation of the transaction concentrated on tactics that would increase Nvidia’s market dominance for graphics processing units (GPUs), the coveted chips frequently used in AI-related applications.

With almost 80% of the market, Nvidia is the market leader for AI graphics processors.

However, earlier in December, the European Commission concluded that the acquisition of Run: ai, which was first revealed in April, would not raise competition issues.

Politico reported in August that the U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the chip giant’s acquisition of Run: ai on antitrust grounds.

Due to worries that these transactions would eliminate possible competitors, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have recently increased their scrutiny of tech giants’ acquisitions of startups.

According to a blog post, Run: ai intends to open-source software.
The statement stated, “Open sourcing the software will enable it to extend its availability to the broader AI ecosystem, even if Run: ai now only supports Nvidia GPUs. “