Nvidia Likely Pulling Out of Arm Acquisition After Failing to Win Regulatory Approval

Nvidia is no longer planning to acquire chip maker Arm after failing to win approval for the venture, reports Bloomberg. Nvidia will "quietly" abandon the purchase because it has made no progress in gaining support from regulators and is facing an FTC lawsuit blocking the deal.

arm logo blue bg
Nvidia in September 2020 announced plans to purchase Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion, but it was clear from the beginning that the purchase would be subject to regulatory scrutiny as Nvidia is a customer of Arm and Arm has many licensing deals with Nvidia competitors.

In December 2021, the United States Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to prevent Nvidia from acquiring Arm as the purchase would give Nvidia control over computing technology and designs that rival firms rely on to develop competing chips. The FTC said that allowing the acquisition to move forward would stifle "innovative next-generation technologies" and would "unfairly undermine" Nvidia's competitors.

Chipmaker Qualcomm was one of the Nvidia competitors that objected to the purchase, and in February 2021, the San Diego-based company told the FTC, the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority, and China's State Administration for Market Regulation that the acquisition would allow Nvidia to become the gatekeeper for Arm's technology, preventing other chipmakers from using it.

With the deal looking unlikely to be approved, Nvidia is now telling partners that it does not expect the transaction to close. SoftBank is preparing for an initial public offering in case the Nvidia takeover does not happen, but Bloomberg says that both companies are continuing to speak with regulators at this time in the hopes that something might change.

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...

Top Rated Comments

thedocbwarren Avatar
53 months ago
This is a good move honestly. End of the day ARM will be used widely and will continue to sustain independently.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaRev Avatar
53 months ago

Queue homers saying Apple should buy them.

Because you know, Apple is entitled to everything.
Why would Apple need to buy them, they already bought an Architecture License allowing them access to all future upgrades.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
53 months ago
Good.
We need a lot less consolidation, not more
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KPOM Avatar
53 months ago
Not surprising. Too many regulators had anti-trust concerns. To even think of getting approval they would have had to make so many concessions I doubt the numbers would have made sense.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zdigital2015 Avatar
53 months ago

Queue homers saying Apple should buy them.

Because you know, Apple is entitled to everything.
Apple would likely face the exact same type of regulatory scrutiny that NVIDIA is facing, which makes this a non-starter for them. It’s in everyone’s best interest that Arm stay independent of any chipmakers or very large tech companies (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon), but I wonder if they have the business acumen to keep their model sustainable in the current environment. What might be viable, although a political nightmare, would be for the parties most interested in Arm’s success forming a consortium that then in turn purchases Arm. This could work.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
53 months ago

Why would Apple need to buy them, they already bought an Architecture License allowing them access to all future upgrades.
You’re applying logical thinking..

The implication here is that the Apple homers often do not
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)