Nvidia and AMD have entered an agreement to remit 15% of their semiconductor sales revenues in China to the U.S. government, with the aim of obtaining essential export licenses. A close source revealed that Nvidia will pay this percentage from its H20 chip sales, while AMD will contribute from its MI308 chip revenues.
Nvidia stated, “We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets," emphasizing that it has not shipped H20 chips to China for several months, but is hopeful that new export control regulations will allow for U.S. competition in both China and globally.
This agreement arrives after Washington previously banned the sale of Nvidia's H20 chips due to security concerns, although recently, there have been discussions about reversing this ban. The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market following U.S. export restrictions imposed in 2023, while the Trump administration had halted its sales in April of this year.
Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang has been actively lobbying for the resumption of H20 chip sales in China, reportedly meeting with former President Donald Trump last week.
As trade relations between the two nations appear to be improving, Beijing has eased controls on rare earth exports, and the U.S. has lifted restrictions on certain chip design software companies operating in China. In May, both countries agreed to a 90-day truce on tariffs; however, discussions to extend the pause have not yet yielded a new agreement, with a deadline approaching on August 12.
