Chipmakers Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay the U.S. government 15 percent of artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to China in order to secure export licenses, a U.S. official confirmed to The Hill.
Nvidia will share 15 percent of revenue from sales of its H20 chips to Beijing, while AMD will pay the same portion of its MI308 chip sales.
The unusual arrangement, first reported by the Financial Times, comes as the two companies seek to resume chip sales to China after a months-long pause.
The Trump administration instituted new restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 chips and AMD’s MI308 chips in April, effectively blocking sales to China. However, both firms said last month that the government would resume reviewing their export licenses.
“We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement.
“America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership,” the spokesperson added. “America’s AI tech stack can be the world’s standard if we race.”
The administration’s decision to allow H20 sales to China has been a source of controversy, facing pushback from both Democrats and Republicans, who have expressed concerns that it could boost China’s AI capabilities.
However, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued last month that China was only receiving Nvidia’s “fourth best” chip, emphasizing the decision was part of a broader rare earth deal with Beijing.
