Key points
- Deal struck after Nvidia CEO met Trump
- US begins issuing licenses for AI chip sales
- US may earn over $2 billion from deal
WASHINGTON, United States: US semiconductor giants Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have agreed to pay the United States government 15 per cent of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China, according to media reports Sunday.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday and agreed to give the federal government the cut from its revenues, a highly unusual arrangement in the international tech trade, according to reports in the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and New York Times.
BREAKING: Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay 15% of their China chip sales to the US government, as per the Financial Times.
Woah…
If this is true, Jensen and Lisa needed to give up 15% of their sales to get rid of the export controls.$NVDA $AMD pic.twitter.com/pygPh0afKk
— amit (@amitisinvesting) August 10, 2025
AFP was not able to immediately verify the reports.
Investors are betting that AI will transform the global economy, and last month, Nvidia — the world’s leading semiconductor producer — became the first company ever to reach a market value of $4 trillion.
Trade tensions
The California-based firm has, however, become entangled in trade tensions between China and the United States, which are waging a heated battle for dominance to produce the chips that power AI.
The US has been restricting which chips Nvidia can export to China on national security grounds.
Last month, Nvidia stated that Washington had agreed to allow the company to sell its “H20” chips to China — a lower-powered version specifically designed for the Chinese market.
The Trump administration had not issued licenses to allow Nvidia to sell the chips before the reported White House meeting.
On Friday, however, the Commerce Department started granting the licenses for chip sales, the reports said.
Addressing trade imbalances
Silicon Valley-based Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will also pay 15 per cent of revenue on Chinese sales of its MI308 chips, which it was previously barred from exporting to the country.
The deal could earn the US government more than $2 billion, according to a New York Times report.
The move comes as the Trump administration has been imposing stiff tariffs, with goals varying from addressing US trade imbalances, wanting to reshore manufacturing, and pressuring foreign governments to change policies.
A 100 per cent tariff on many semiconductor imports came into effect last week, with exceptions for tech companies that announce major investments in the United States.
