Nvidia’s bid to buy processor IP giant ARM from Softbank was looking increasingly unlikely to succeed, and last week, the US company threw in the towel in the face of opposition from US, European Union and UK competition regulators – not to mention hostility from many of ARM’s customers, who are also Nvidia’s competitors. The acquisition would have been the biggest ever in the semiconductor industry, at $66bn, but now becomes the latest in a line of major chip industry deals to collapse in the face of antitrust concerns. The failure highlights the challenges of getting any large-scale acquisition approved when the inherently global nature of the semiconductor industry collides with the national and regional sensitivities that surround strategic chip…