UK Microchip Firm Arm Probes Payments to Chinese Joint Venture

U.K.-based microchip maker Arm has been looking into suspicious payments to senior executives at its Chinese joint venture Arm China, which it owns with a Chinese investment firm, according to a Telegraph report Thursday (Jan. 6).

Arm’s technology has to do with smartphones, tablets and more often, connected cars, laptops and computer servers. This development could complicate an expected $40 billion takeover by U.S. rival NVIDIA.

Arm said allegations had been made about the appropriateness of payments with senior management. There has been a dispute going on with Allen Wu, the head of the joint venture, after the firm didn’t fire him two years ago.

NVIDIA agreed to buy Arm in 2020, though the deal hasn’t gone through, and has been fraught with problems from various regulators across the globe. That sale has also seen doubt because of competition and a national security investigation, with Chinese regulators among those looking into it.

In 2016, Arm was bought by SoftBank for £24 billion. After that, it set up a joint venture in China in 2018 with Hopu Investments, which is state-backed.

The firm voted to fire Wu in 2020. Because of legalities, he retained control of the company, and has reportedly been distancing Arm China from the British company.

Arm said recently that it’s been unable to access the Arm China accounts to audit its financials and assess the value of its stakes. The company said it wasn’t able to get access to financial info or management regarding Arm China. Wu was not named in the account.

NVIDIA has also recently announced a free version of its Omniverse, available to creators using several graphics processing units.

Read more: NVIDIA Makes Its Omniverse Free to Creators

The company said real-time 3D design collaborations will offer new assets and scenes for artists’ laptops or workstations.

They’ll be working on building worlds through rendering, physics and artificial intelligence (AI), in what the company says are “interconnected 3D virtual worlds for commerce, entertainment, creativity and industry.”