Nvidia's Arm takeover 'disturbing' - China media

China may be opening a new front in global tensions over semiconductors.

A state media op-ed on Wednesday (September 16) took aim at Nvidia’s deal to buy chip designer Arm.

The article called the deal ‘disturbing’, and urged global regulators to exercise caution when assessing it.

It says Chinese companies now subject to U.S. restrictions, like phone maker Huawei, risk getting cut off from Arm chips.

And it adds that European firms using Arm products could have trouble supplying China.

Arm is a critical part of the global tech industry.

Its chip designs dominate the smartphone market.

On Monday (September 14) Japanese conglomerate SoftBank said it would sell the British-based firm to U.S. chipmaker Nvidia.

The deal is valued at up to 40 billion dollars.

Before it can go through though it will have to be approved by competition regulators in major markets.

In 2018 U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm dropped a planned takeover of a Dutch rival after Chinese regulators opposed the deal.