A U.S. regulator is suing to prevent Nvidia from taking Arm

U.S. authorities have filed a lawsuit to close the country NvidiaThe multibillion-dollar acquisition of the UK-based company Arm manufacturing chip from SoftBank after European and American officials said they were concerned.

The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that the project, which could be the largest in the semiconductor industry, will give one of the largest companies in the world control over computer technology and designs that competitors rely on to make their chips.

The case is the latest in a series of high-profile crackdown on Biden officials, who have pledged to reduce the power of big business by eliminating anti-competitive practices.

The FTC agreed to a chip deal price of $ 40bn, but cash and current sales value is worth $ 82bn following Nvidia’s share price jump. Nvidia would have to pay SoftBank a $ 1.25bn interest rate if the deal collapsed.

The supervisor said the incorporated company “will have mechanisms and incentives to leverage new technologies for the next generation, including those used to drive data warehousing and automotive support systems”.

Holly Vedova, head of the FTC’s competition office, said the regulator was working to “prevent chip conglomerate from hampering the pipeline technology of the next generation of technologies”.

Nvidia said in a statement that it “will continue to demonstrate that this will benefit companies and promote competition”, adding that it will invest in Arm’s research and development, maintaining its license open and ensuring that its expertise is “available to all.”

The FTC move comes after Nvidia last month said the regulator had it “expressed concern” about Arm’s work, and that it was in discussions with the council on “solutions to these problems”.

The UK had already launched an in-depth study of competition relations and national security concerns. The European Commission began its review in October.

Additional reports by James Fontanella-Khan