Nvidia and AMD will pay the U.S. government 15% of revenue from high-end AI chips sold to China, the Financial Times reports. This comes as part of licensing deals allowing them to sell these chips in China.
Nvidia will share proceeds from its H20 AI chips. AMD will do the same for its MI308 chip. The U.S. government has started issuing licenses for these sales.
The issue started when the Trump administration restricted exports of high-performance AI chips to China in April. The ban paused after Nvidia promised $500 billion in U.S. data center investments. In July, Nvidia resumed H20 chip sales to China, designed specifically for that market under Biden-era restrictions. 
An Nvidia spokesperson said:
“We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide.”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tied the change to trade talks with China over rare-earth elements, crucial for batteries and other tech parts.
The move draws backlash. National security experts and ex-officials have asked Lutnick to reverse the approvals, citing risks.
This story was updated to include Nvidia’s statement.
