CMA warns merger could stifle UK tech innovation

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned that a new proposed merger could cause “real problems” for the UK’s tech industry.

The CMA has determined that an in-depth investigation into the deal between NVIDIA and Arm is warranted on competition grounds.

A summary of the CMA’s report, which was sent to the Secretary of State (SoS) for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on 20 July ahead of the set deadline, has now been published.

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, commented: “We’re concerned that NVIDIA controlling Arm could create real problems for NVIDIA’s rivals by limiting their access to key technologies, and ultimately stifling innovation across a number of important and growing markets. This could end up with consumers missing out on new products, or prices going up.

“The chip technology industry is worth billions and is vital to products that businesses and consumers rely on every day.

“This includes the critical data processing and datacentre technology that supports digital businesses across the economy, and the future development of artificial intelligence technologies that will be important to growth industries like robotics and self-driving cars.”

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