The European Commission (EU) has begun sending questionnaires to Nvidia customers and small businesses as it probes the company's proposed bid for Run:ai. Nvidia announced its intention to acquire Israeli startup Run:ai in April.
Run:ai will provide "workload and orchestration" software to help Nvidia's "customer's make more efficient use of their AI computing resources." The EU said Nvidia would need to seek antitrust clearance before it proceeds with the deal.
"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 EU had previously told Reuters.
As seen by Reuters, the questionnaire asks Nvidia customers if a company "that offers a bundle of GPU Orchestration Software and hardware/GPU," would have a competitive advantage in the GPU and AI market.
It also asks them if "end-users been required or induced (for example, with discounts) to purchase GPU Orchestration Software as a bundle together with software or other hardware?"
Customers were also asked about the potential impacts on businesses if Nvidia positioned Run:ai as open-source. Run:ai has been a close collaborator with Nvidia since 2020.