Beijing drops Google probe, shifting focus to Nvidia in US trade talks, FT reports

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(Reuters) – China is ending an antitrust probe into Google, as trade talks between Beijing and Washington picked up over TikTok and Nvidia amid rising tensions between the two countries, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The move signals a tactical shift by Beijing, redirecting regulatory focus to Nvidia as leverage in the U.S.-China trade talks and sending a message of flexibility to Washington by ending the probe into Google, the newspaper said.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, which opened the investigation against Google in February, has now decided to drop it, the report said citing two people briefed on the decision.

Google declined to comment to the FT. The company, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation and China’s State Council did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The regulator had earlier said that Google was suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law, without providing further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.

Google has not been formally notified of the decision to drop the probe, the FT report said.

Earlier this week, China accused Nvidia of violating its anti-monopoly law, following a preliminary investigation into the California-based firm’s business practices.

The two countries have traded barbs over the past six months since U.S. President Donald Trump hit China with massive tariffs, before lowering them to 30%, and threatened to shut down popular social media app TikTok.

China responded with 10% tariffs and antitrust probes against the likes of Alphabet’s Google, signalling more regulatory scrutiny on U.S. firms.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)