The European Commission recently announced investigations into NVIDIA’s proposed acquisition of Run:ai, an Israel-based provider of a compute management platform, and Apple’s iPadOS to assess compliance with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
GPU supplier NVIDIA announced its plans to buy Run:ai in April, which it said was “to help customers make more efficient use of their AI computing resources.” Run:ai’s platform dynamically allocates GPU resources, whether on-premises, in public clouds, or at the edge, allowing companies to get the most out of their hardware and reduce operational costs.
The two companies have been working together since about 2020. The deal is worth $700 million, according to TechCrunch, and NVIDIA does not currently have plans to change Run:ai’s business model.
The deal remains on hold until it is cleared of competition concerns by the authority.
Italy flagged the deal to the E.U. Merger Regulation, which allows for mergers that don’t have an E.U. dimension but could impact trade and competition within the region. While it does not meet the E.U.’s or Italy’s turnover thresholds, the Italian competition authority determined that the acquisition either poses concrete risks to competition or meets other conditions outlined in the Italian Competition Act.
“The transaction threatens to significantly affect competition in the markets where NVIDIA and Run:ai are active, which are likely to be at least European Economic Area-wide and therefore include the referring country Italy,” the European Commission said in a press notice.
“The Commission also concluded that it is best placed to examine the transaction given its knowledge and case experience in related markets.”
SEE: UK Probes Alphabet’s Partnership With Anthropic Over Competition Concerns
NVIDIA must now “notify the transaction,” meaning it must send the Commission documentation with all the details of the proposed merger with Run:ai to allow for a full assessment of its potential impact.
NVIDIA spokesman John Rizzo told TechCrunch: “We are happy to answer any questions regulators may have about Run:ai. After the acquisition closes, we’ll continue to make AI available in every cloud and enterprise, and help customers select any system and software solution that works best for them.”
Big Tech firms are rapidly investing in young AI startups to gain early control and capitalise on the AI boom. Notably, this can be seen through partnerships such as Microsoft and OpenAI, NVIDIA and Inflection AI, and Google and Anthropic.
However, such collaborations can lead to market dominance, making it more difficult for other independent companies to get funding, attract talent, or compete with the advanced technology and reach of the big players. Innovation within AI specifically is dependent only on a few elements, the GPUs being one of them.
“Together with Run:ai, NVIDIA will enable customers to have a single fabric that accesses GPU solutions,” NVIDIA said in the acquisition announcement.
On Nov. 4, the Commission announced its investigation into whether Apple’s iPadOS operating system complies with the Digital Markets Act.
The Act’s requirements apply only to the 24 core platform services offered by the seven “gatekeeper” companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. The gatekeepers all have a major economic impact in the E.U. and more than 45 million monthly users in the region, or had more than 10,000 yearly business users for at least three years.
iPadOS, along with the App Store, Safari, and iOS, is on the list of core platform services as it provides “an important gateway for business users to reach end users,” so must comply with the DMA’s requirements. iPadOS users should be able to choose their default web browser, use third-party app stores, explore features with non-Apple accessories like headphones and smartpens, among other conditions.
Interestingly, macOS is not deemed a core platform service, which means that European Mac owners may be able to access Apple Intelligence when it’s released. Apple has asserted that it will not roll out its AI offering in the E.U. due to “regulatory uncertainties” brought about by the DMA. However, as macOS does not have to comply, an exception could be made.
On Nov. 1, Apple published a report explaining the measures it has taken for iPadOS to comply with the DMA. The Commission will now assess this to see if the measures are sufficient, but if found to be in violation, Apple could be fined up to 10% of its total worldwide turnover.
SEE: Apple Must Pay Back €13 Billion in Unpaid Taxes to Ireland, E.U. Court Rules
So far, the Cupertino giant has not relented to the legislation quietly. In January, it said that accessing third-party apps on Apple devices presents security risks, including “malware, fraud and scams, illicit and harmful content.”
But the European Commission has been persistent in its efforts to hold Apple accountable, launching three investigations into DMA compliance in the past year.
In June, the company was charged for violating the DMA for a number of reasons, including not making it easy enough for developers to steer their customers to purchase options outside the app, which do not financially benefit Apple. It also launched a non-compliance investigation into whether Apple discourages developers from hosting their iOS apps on third-party platforms.
In August, Apple announced it would allow E.U. users to delete pre-installed apps on iOS 18 to comply with the DMA. It also made the “browser choice screen” clearer and expanded the number of default apps that can be replaced by third-party versions.
