The British Government has Intervened in Nvidia’s planned ARM acquisition

Nvidia’s planned acquisition of ARM has the potential to redraw the semiconductor market, combining one of the world’s top CPU designers with the world’s leading supplier of graphics cards. While this deal should be lucrative for Nvidia, the acquisition has not been without its detractors, with many seeing the buyout as dangerous to global competition within the semiconductor market. 

Today, the UK Government has decided to intervene, citing “national security” grounds. ARM is a British chip designer and one of the crown jewels of the UK’s tech industry. Losing ARM to Nvidia, an American company, has huge ramifications, giving the US an unfair advantage in the global silicon arms race. 

The UK’s Digital Secretary of State, Oliver Dowden, has asked the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to write a report on the “competition and national security aspects” of Nvidia ARM acquisition, giving the organisation until July 30th 2021 to complete and submit a detailed document on the merger.  

At this time, it is unclear what national security grounds the UK plans to explore with their planned intervention. That said, it is easy to see why losing ARM to US ownership could impact the United Kingdom’s tech industry. 

Below is an excerpt of the intervention notice from the United Kingdom’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.