Nvidia had not fully complied with provisions outlined when it acquired Mellanox Technologies, an Israeli-US supplier of networking products, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) stated on Monday, according to Reuters. Beijing provided conditional approval for the US chipmaker's acquisition of Mellanox in 2020.

Monday's statement was released as US and Chinese officials were conducting more trade talks in Madrid, with a tariff truce between the world's two biggest economies scheduled to expire in November, Reuters noted.

Two individuals with knowledge of the situation said SAMR arrived at its conclusion weeks before the announcement on Monday, adding that the regulator released the statement at this time to provide China with greater leverage in the trade discussions.

The regulator initiated the anti-monopoly investigation in December, one week after the US revealed stricter export controls on advanced high-bandwidth memory chips and the equipment for making chips sent to the country.

SAMR subsequently spent months interviewing relevant parties and collecting legal opinions to formulate the case, the people stated.

In 2020, Nvidia purchased Mellanox for $6.9bn, and the acquisition assisted the chipmaker in advancing into the data center and high-performance computing market, where it is currently a dominant player.

The preliminary findings against the chipmaker could lead to fines between 1% and 10% of the company's sales from the preceding year. Regulators also have the authority to compel Nvidia to modify business practices that are deemed to be in violation of antitrust laws.

A statement from Nvidia said it complies "with the law in all respects" and would continue to co-operate with all relevant government agencies.

Over the past few years, Nvidia has risen to become a global market leader in artificial intelligence chips, with its graphics processing units (GPUs) being critical in the development of leading AI models.

This has also meant that Nvidia has become more and more entangled in the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spoke at the Madrid talks on Monday, said the regulatory finding against Nvidia was a topic in the meetings.

"We discussed the poor timing of the Nvidia investigation [on] the day of these talks," his comment was, as cited by Reuters.

Successive administrations in the US have put in place export controls that have required Nvidia to sell less powerful versions of its essential graphics processing units in China, creating a large black market of smugglers who illegally transport its more advanced processors into the country.

The US this year also prevented sales of the H20 chip, which Nvidia created for the Chinese market while following export controls. The company later made a deal to let sales resume in return for giving the US government 15% of the revenues.

Despite this, Chinese regulators have been putting pressure on the nation's tech companies, warning them against buying Nvidia's H20 chip, which has created uncertainty over the US group's business in the country.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, who has frequently visited China in a display of his commitment to a vital overseas market, has criticized the US curbs, calling them a "failure" that has motivated Chinese competitors to speed up the development of their own products, according to Reuters.

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He suggested that Nvidia's chip sales approval was tied to a US-China agreement on rare earths. Dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, Huang arrived early at the Mandarin Oriental hotel's sunny courtyard in Beijing, answering reporters' questions in nearly 90-degree Fahrenheit heat. "Only in China can we do this out in the sun!" he declared. He soon realized the press conference was intended for an air-conditioned indoor setting. "What are we doing out here? Why didn't somebody say so?" he quipped. Local reporters swarmed, seeking autographs on books and T-shirts, to which he responded, "Who needs an autograph? I'll do it while I'm listening."

Whom he met

Huang described a "wonderful meeting" with Vice Premier He Lifeng, noting their discussions avoided China's battery technology or rare earth restrictions. Earlier, he met Xiaomi's founder and chief executive officer Lei Jun, whom he praised as "a brilliant business person." Their talks covered artificial intelligence for large language models, autonomous driving, and robotics, with Huang noting Xiaomi's use of Nvidia's automotive chips in electric vehicles. Huang shared that he informed US President Donald Trump of his China trip during a White House meeting celebrating Nvidia's $4 trillion valuation. "Have a great trip," Trump told him, Huang recounted.

Export controls

Nvidia announced Tuesday that it anticipates resuming H20 chip shipments to China soon, following US government assurances, after new US rules paused sales in April. "In terms of the H20 ban and the lifting of the ban, it was completely in control of the US government and China government. The discussion has nothing to do with me," Huang said, per CNBC, dismissing any role in swaying Trump's stance. "It's my job to inform the president about what I know very well, which is the technology industry, artificial intelligence, the developments of AI around the world," he explained. Huang emphasized Nvidia's compliance with final policy decisions and its need to adapt to tariffs.

What's next for Nvidia in China

Huang stated in May that US chip restrictions slashed Nvidia's China market share by nearly half. US export controls cost Nvidia $2.5 billion in lost sales in the April quarter, with an expected $8 billion hit in the July quarter, forecasting $45 billion in sales. Since 2022, the US has barred Nvidia from selling its most advanced chips to China. "I hope to get more advanced chips into China than the H20," Huang told CNBC, "and the reason for that is because technology is always moving on. It's not like wood." He highlighted that future chips allowed in China will improve over time. Huang declined to specify order numbers or exact timelines for resuming sales, noting the H20's adequacy for AI model training despite its limitations. He added that the US is still processing export licenses, and restarting the supply chain may take nine months.

Huawei

Huang commented on Huawei, a Chinese competitor impacted by earlier US sanctions. "Anyone who discounts Huawei and anyone who discounts China's manufacturing capability is deeply naïve," he said, praising Huawei's "excellent chip design" and self-sufficient cloud system. "They can go to market all by themselves," he asserted. Huawei's AI relies on its Ascend chips and CANN system, an alternative to Nvidia's CUDA, supported by its CloudMatrix AI cloud system launched last year. On developer challenges with Huawei's systems, Huang said, "That's just a matter of time." He contrasted his 30-year industry experience with Huawei's shorter tenure, noting, "the fact they're already on the dance floor tells you something about how formidable they are."

China's AI

At a Beijing supply chain expo on Wednesday morning, Huang lauded Chinese AI models. "The Chinese models, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, are excellent," he said, citing models from a Chinese startup, Alibaba, and Moonshot, an Alibaba-backed startup. "I think over time it will be increasingly less important which one of the models are the smartest," he noted. "It's going to be which one of the models are the most useful." In January, DeepSeek, developed by High-Flyer, stunned investors with a cost-efficient AI model despite US chip curbs, reportedly by stockpiling Nvidia chips. Huang valued the open-source nature of models like DeepSeek R1, enabling free downloads for local use in healthcare, robotics, imaging, and more, with "99%" of users leveraging it for such purposes. As the press conference ended, a reporter asked if Huang would return to China this year. "I hope so. You have to invite me," he responded.

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As the world gears toward the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a team of Israeli athletes are working diligently to ensure their place in the Games and represent their country in a kind of sports of which most Israelis have never heard. 

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Bobsled and skeleton are two similar winter sliding sports, with both requiring athletes to slide down a narrow and twisting ice track in a sled as quickly as possible, either as part of a team or alone.

But given the Israeli climate, how do athletes prepare for the competition, one might wonder. 

"It is true that Israel has no ice tracks, and most likely never will, but the perception that only countries with a winter climate can succeed at the Winter Olympics is not true," David Greaves, president of the Israeli Olympic Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, told Israel Hayom.

"There are currently 12-13 active trails in the world, mostly in the United States, Canada, and some European countries. However, the number of countries competing in sliding sports is 65, which means that most countries competing in the Games don't have tracks.

"Britain won half the medals in skeleton in the previous Olympics, which proves that snowy countries are not the only ones who win in sliding."

Greaves is one of the founding fathers of Israeli bobsled. Together with a small group of bobsled enthusiasts, he laid the necessary infrastructure and sparked an interest in the industry that has until then been perceived in Israel as impossible to participate in. 

Like Israel's bobsleigh and skeleton stars Adam (AJ) Edelman and Jared Firestone, Greaves too lives in North America. But the national team also includes Menachem Chen, Amit Haas, Ward Fawarsy, Amitay Tzemach, and Roman Shargaev. 

"This is a mix you won't find anywhere else," Edelman said enthusiastically. "Sabras [native Israelis] alongside immigrants, religious and secular, Jewish and Druze."

The Beijing Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on Feb. 4, but the long road to determine who will get to compete on the ice track and who will watch it from home is not over. 

The qualifying rounds are in full swing, and the final results will depend on a series of competitions based on the world rankings. 

The task is far from simple. In skeleton, for example, only 25 men and 25 women will make their way to the Olympics, with three athletes to participate from the two top-ranking countries. The next four countries will be able to bring two athletes each, with at least one place reserved for the host, China. 

This means that Israeli skeleton athlete Georgina Cohen will be competing for one of the remaining ten spots. 

The main difference between bobsled and skeleton is the type of sled that is used. In bobsled, it is a large sled, weighing approximately 100 kilograms (220 pounds), with a cover that provides relatively high protection for the athletes in it, although accidents, including serious injuries and even deaths, are known to have happened. 

In skeleton, the sled is smaller and simpler, and it does not surround the athlete's body. Instead, the athlete lies on his stomach and moves down the track head forward. In both cases, there are no steering wheels or breaks, and movement is controlled only by the athlete's body. 

In both bobsled and skeleton, the sled can reach a speed up to 130 km per hour, which, given the curves in the track, makes it a dangerous sport, suitable to a select few.

One such person is Edelman, a Boston native and MIT graduate. 

"Proudly Zionistic. Japanese trained sushi chef," his description on the website of the federation says. 

Edelman has a rich sports career, having played hockey and done bodybuilding before. He first tested the skeleton waters in 2014.

"The beginning was disappointing, my first slide was terribly slow," Edelman told Israel Hayom. "But it just made me persevere more. To want to make it to the Olympics and into the Israeli national team."

In 2018, he fulfilled that dream by representing Israel at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He is said to be the first Orthodox Jew to compete in the Winter Olympics, and the first Orthodox Jewish man to compete in either Olympic iteration.

Edelman was also accepted into an MBA program at the Yale School of Management, which he had to cut short as he transitioned from skeleton to bobsled. 

"From 2007-2018 we mostly focused on skeleton for monetary reasons," he said.

Greaves explained, "Bobsled is very expensive because of the transportation costs from one training site to another, and the living costs of an entire team who live together for several years. In leading countries, funding is provided by associations, while in others, the athletes are the ones looking for the funds. The Olympic Committee of Israel counts us as part of the Olympic program and helps us, but 95% of the funding comes from efforts by those who participate in the sports."

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Edelman's first participation in the Olympics left him in debt, which took some time to pay off. 

"I thought to myself, how can I get into debt again, since based on my calculations, it takes more than a million shekels a year to prepare for the Olympics," he said. "I turned to various organizations, but my requests were turned down."

Nevertheless, despite the difficulties and driven by his love of Israel, Edelman persisted. 

"I thought about what the purpose of my life is," Edelman said. "I have come to the conclusion that it is to promote Israel through sports in a way that others can't. Sports is a wonderful public diplomacy tool, and we are ambassadors who can get to surprising places. 

"In our field, the viewers are less interested in the names of the athletes, but they see the flag – and I want them to see the Israeli flag waving proudly. Wherever I am, in competitions and training, I express Israeliness through the symbols of the state.

"It is a great privilege for me to be a member of the Israeli national team because I know that the state has done much more for me than I for it. I know I have to return good with good, and sports is a wonderful means to achieve that," Edelman said. 

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China says the omicron variant of the coronavirus is a concern for organizers of the Beijing Winter Olympics but it remains confident the games will be held as scheduled in February.

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The new variant is the latest challenge facing the games, which have taken criticism over the lack of natural snow in the Chinese capital, the country's human rights record, and tennis star Peng Shuai's recent accusations of sexual assault against a former top leader of the ruling Communist Party.

At a daily briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said omicron would "certainly bring some challenges in terms of prevention and control."

"I'm fully confident that the Winter Olympics will be held as scheduled, smoothly and successfully," Zhao said, citing China's experience in largely controlling widespread infections since the pandemic began in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

China maintains some of the world's strictest anti-virus travel restrictions and has said it will not allow overseas spectators at the games. Athletes, staff and journalists will be confined to bubbles for the duration of the competition, which will take place at three far-flung locations in downtown Beijing, its suburb of Yanqing, and neighboring Hebei province.

Along with logistical and health concerns, China faces the prospect that the U.S. and other Western democracies will decline to send government officials to the games in protest over China's treatment of Turkic Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups, along with civil society and human rights activists.

Politicians, the WTA and leading tennis players have also raised concerns about the safety of three-time Olympian and former top-ranked doubles player Peng, who publicly accused Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the party's Politburo Standing Committee of coercing her into sex three years ago.

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Israel's coronavirus infection rate stands at 0.57% according to Health Ministry data. Of the 73,113 people who tested for the virus Thursday, 391 were found to have the disease.

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There are 6,130 active cases of the virus. There are 149 people in serious condition, 101 of whom are on ventilators.

Although 1,321,957 Israelis have recovered from the disease since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8,138 have died.

On the vaccination front, 6,255,302 Israelis have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 5,751,925 have received two doses. Over 4 million Israelis – 4,012,357 – have received all three available doses of the vaccine.

China reported on Friday the first COVID-19 cases among foreign athletes at preparatory events for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Games, as stringent measures being put in place to control any outbreaks are put to the test.

Two lugers of the same nationality tested positive, said Huang Chun, an official of the Games organizing committee.

Both have been transferred to quarantine hotels, he told a news briefing in the Chinese capital.

Beijing's vice mayor previously said the coronavirus would be one of the biggest challenges to the city's hosting of the Games.

A widespread outbreak related to the Games would hurt China's track record of containing clusters quickly, having elected to maintain a zero-tolerance approach toward COVID-19.

The Olympic Games will run from Feb. 4 until Feb. 20, with all participants subject to daily COVID-19 tests, and no international spectators. Athletes and other Games-related personnel will also be enveloped in a "closed-loop" bubble.

"We will still let the person take part in training and activities related to the games, but (the individual) needs to go through strict health monitoring and COVID-19 testing every day," Huang said, referring to the first athlete who tested positive.

The individual will also stay in their room, eat, and ride in vehicles alone, Huang told reporters.

The second case was a close contact of the first athlete, he said, without giving details on their nationality.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida outlined on Friday an urgent plan to increase hospital beds and medical resources in preparation for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 in the country this winter. The government plans to boost hospital bed capacity by about 30%, bolster in-home care, and collect data to predict which hospitals will come under pressure.

Kishida said this week that the "trump card" in the government's pandemic fight was the procurement of oral treatments that could prevent the need for hospitalization. Japan will pay about $1.2 billion to Merck & Co Inc for 1.6 million courses of the COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir, according to terms announced on Wednesday. That's about half the supply that has been secured by the United States and compares with a total of 1.7 million coronavirus cases in Japan since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Sweden has seen a sharp decline in COVID-19 testing this month, just as much of Europe contends with surging infection rates after its health agency said vaccinated Swedes no longer need to get tested even if they have symptoms of the disease.

The health agency's stance has rekindled criticism that the country has once again broken ranks with its neighbors and has led to some of its regions no longer providing free testing for all. Health agency official Sara Byfors defended the decision saying testing would still be at high enough levels to catch trends and it had never caught all cases.

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Israel's coronavirus infection rate stands at 0.68%, according to Health Ministry data. Of the 74,286 Israelis who tested for the virus Sunday, 472 were found to have contracted the disease.

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There are 7,823 active cases of the virus in the country. There are 219 people in serious condition, 130 of whom are on ventilators.

Although 1,311,639 Israelis have recovered from the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8,100 have died.

On the vaccination front, 6,237,223 Israelis have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 5,731,677 have received two doses. Nearly 4 million Israelis – 3,954,003 – have received all three available doses of the vaccine.

With health officials seemingly poised to approve the use of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in children aged 5 to 12 in a vote early next week, coronavirus chief Salman Zarka said vaccinated children would not require a PCR test to enter a facility operating in accordance with the Green Pass system while the unvaccinated would still be able to get tested for free.

"In the first stage, we will not make any changes to the Green Pass because we need to exhaust the vaccination campaign," Zarka told Israel Hayom.

"I see this is as a process that includes diplomacy, dialogue with parents, including the possibility of meeting with a pediatrician through their healthcare provider. In the first stage, this process must be exhausted. I don't like this dialogue that we won't allow free testing. We're not there. We are in a situation in which morbidity is on the decline. I believe a significant portion of the public, over 50%, believe vaccination is correct and will want to protect their children as well as spare them quarantine and antigen testing, which is a restrictive thing for children. Right now, we aren't discussing the testing issue. In the first stage, they will continue to be tested for free, and we will wait to exhaust diplomacy."

As for the school system, Zarka said, "It's important to remember that are children – almost 32,000 – quarantining at home today; or in the green class, if there are more than three positive children, the students go home and get tested. I hear from friends how difficult this is. It's not easy for parents, it's a tough task for kids, and exhausting, and here, too, the vaccine can help."

Meanwhile, Israelis looking to fly out of the country can expect to pay more for PCR tests as Pangea takes over PCR testing at Ben-Gurion Airport, according to a report in financial daily Globes.

While the Omega Company charged 40 shekels (around $12.75) per coronavirus test, Pangea will charge 89 (around $28.40). Rapid tests carried out by Omega cost passengers 120 shekels ($38.30). Rapid testing through Pangea will now set Israelis back 149 shekels ($47.55), according to the Globes report.

China, meanwhile, has dismissed a recent US intelligence report that found the coronavirus could have originated in a laboratory setting as "unscientific." The declassified report "has no credibility," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a statement on Sunday.

Published Saturday, the report concluded both natural origin and a lab leak were plausible hypotheses to explain how SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, first infected humans, but that the truth may never be known.

Wang responded to the report by saying, "A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie."

US intelligence services "have a reputation for fraud and deception," the Chinese official said.

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The crisis between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that took place while China served as temporary UN Security Council president for May provided Beijing with the opportunity to demonstrate its support for Muslims and point a finger at US bias in its continued support for Israel and failure to ensure Palestinian civilians' human rights.

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In response to a question from Al Jazeera at a press conference on May 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said, "China has been actively playing a mediating role … but the US remained alone in obstructing the voice of the Council.

"The US claims to care about the human rights of Muslims. However, as the recent Israel-Palestine clashes swept a large number of Palestinian Muslims into war and sufferings, the US turned a blind eye to their sufferings and even risked universal condemnation to stop the Security Council from speaking up on this. In the meantime, the US, together with a handful of its allies like the UK and Germany, held a meaningless meeting on the so-called Xinjiang-related issues falsely in the name of the UN based on lies and political prejudice. What is the true intention behind this political farce? The US should know that the lives of Palestinian Muslims are equally precious."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's decision to lead a special UN Security Council session on the crisis in Gaza was aimed at emphasizing the importance China attributes to the conflict and its stance on finding a just solution to the Palestinian issue, in contrast with the United States. In a conversation with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ahead of the meeting, which received widespread coverage by Chinese media outlets, Wang said the main reason for the crisis was the mistaken policies implemented by former US President Donald Trump, which he said ignored the need to promote a two-state solution and as a result led to the ongoing abuse of Palestinian rights.

Meanwhile, ahead of his planned meeting with senior Arab League officials, China's UN envoy Zhang Jun said he understood their concerns regarding the conflict.

In this same manner, despite the importance of understanding the motives of both sides, Beijing made no mention of Israel's stance or rockets fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad at Israel's cities in the draft resolution proposed to the UN Security Council. This was the reason the US vetoed the resolution.

During the Security Council session, China's foreign minister called for both sides to end violence against civilians and agree to an immediate ceasefire. He further called on Israel to show restraint in its use of force. He emphasized "one country" was responsible for the council's failure to consolidate a joint statement on the conflict. He said that as a "true friend of the Palestinian people," Beijing would bolster its efforts to promote negotiations. He also reiterated China's offer for Israeli and Palestinian officials to meet in the Middle Kingdom for direct talks.

Israel has been unwillingly incorporated by the Chinese into their ongoing conflict with the Americans in the hope of presenting Beijing as the responsible and moderate state and diverting media and diplomatic attention from what is transpiring in Xinjiang.

Although senior Chinese officials have visited the Middle East, in particular Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, over the past year, there have been no high-level contacts between Beijing and Jerusalem, the latter of which is seen as a clear and strategic US ally.

In deciding whether to carry on fighting in light of international pressure, Israel must take into account that the US is dealing with China's blow to its role as a global leader. At the same time, China's displays of an ability to fulfill a greater role in the Middle East by inviting both sides to direct talks on its soil require Israel to sharpen the message that diplomatic disregard and the presentation of one side of the equation will keep Jerusalem from viewing it as a fair mediator in the future.

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