meWhen it comes to technology, the British Crown Jewels do not sleep peacefully in the Tower of London, but are active on the Cambridge campus, within the ARM company. Therefore, they are easier to steal. This is what Jensen Huang, the founding boss of the American Nvidia, one of the world leaders in electronic chips, thought. But the kingdom is fighting back.

On Tuesday, November 16, Nadine Dorries, Minister of Culture and Digital, announced that the government had asked the competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, to launch an in-depth investigation into the acquisition announced by Nvidia in September. 2020. for 50 billion dollars (44 billion euros).

The competing gendarmes had focused, starting in 2021, on the very serious risk of penalizing ARM customers, that is, the majority of chip producers on the planet. This modest company of almost 7,000 people came up with a particular architecture for a microprocessor – the brain of a computer or a telephone – very energy efficient.

Sale of licenses

Instead of selling its own chips, it opted to commercialize its technology by selling licenses. They can be found in smartphones, computers, televisions, data centers, and even self-driving cars. Today it is a form of “Switzerland of electronics”, a partner of all manufacturers in the sector. Therefore, the acquisition by one of your large customers poses serious problems for others. That is why the European and Chinese competition authorities are also examining this transaction.

Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Admits Such Operation Could Affect National Security

The concern arises especially for the United Kingdom, which does not have, in this field, another company with such world supremacy. However, when the Japanese investment fund SoftBank took control of the company, in July 2016, the post-referendum government on Brexit swelled, seeing in this gigantic acquisition the confirmation of the British attractiveness finally freed from the European yoke. . Now Boris Johnson’s cabinet recognizes that such an operation could affect national security. The current atmosphere is evidently less euphoric than the one that prevailed in late 2016 among the country’s anti-Europeans.

He also emphasizes that selling a strategic firm to a distant investment fund is always risky. Despite his promises of loyalty, Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, could not resist such a generous offer, given the difficulties of his group. You won’t get rid of your English gem so easily.