China conditionally approved NVIDIA’s acquisition of Mellanox in 2020, but the investigation announcement suggests the AI chipmaker may not be meeting the conditions.

AI workloads could grow by between 25% and 35% annually up to 2027, according to consultancy Bain and Company, putting pressure on suppliers of data centre equipment and AI-augmented products.

Even as global efforts are made to create policies, new plants and marketplaces for semiconductors, unpredictable demand and continued talent shortages cast doubt on what the future will bring.

Rampant demand for AI computing is driving cloud providers like Microsoft, Google and AWS to build custom silicon chips. Soon, APAC customers will have more choice based on use case and cost.