China drops Google antitrust probe as trade talks with US intensify

[bonk]

China has decided to drop its antitrust investigation into Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as Beijing and Washington step up negotiations over trade, TikTok, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people briefed on the matter.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has terminated the probe, which was launched in February and focused on the dominance of Google’s Android operating system and its impact on Chinese smartphone makers such as Oppo and Xiaomi (HK:1810), the report said.

The move comes as Beijing concentrates its regulatory scrutiny on Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, in what sources told the FT was an effort to sharpen China’s leverage in trade talks.

Earlier this week, the FT reported that China’s cyberspace regulator ordered major tech firms, including ByteDance and Alibaba (HK:9988) to halt purchases of Nvidia’s AI chips.

The U.S. and China held three days of negotiations in Madrid this week, with President Donald Trump expected to discuss a potential TikTok deal with President Xi Jinping on Friday.