Nvidia and AMD will cede 15% of their revenue from selling AI chips to China to the US government.

American technology companies Nvidia and AMD have reportedly agreed to cede 15% of the revenue obtained from the sale of advanced technology microchips in China to the US government as a condition for obtaining the necessary export licenses. This unprecedented pact is part of the reciprocity agreement between the Trump administration and microprocessor and graphics card manufacturers, under which the US president will allow Nvidia to sell its H20 chip and AMD its MI308 in the Chinese market, according to sources familiar with the situation who spoke to the Financial Times (FT).

An unprecedented agreement in current trade policy, as the FT points out. No US company had ever agreed to pay a portion of its revenue to obtain export licenses, but the deal follows a pattern in the Trump administration , where the president urges companies to take measures, such as domestic investments, to avoid the imposition of tariffs in order to attract jobs and income to the United States, the newspaper reports after contacting export control experts.

For their part, two people familiar with the agreement indicated that Washington has not yet determined how to use the money. Meanwhile, AMD did not respond to a request for comment from the British newspaper, while Nvidia said it followed the rules required by the White House to allow its participation in global markets.

The news comes amid recent statements by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) accusing the use of US AI chips for espionage due to their "advanced tracking, localization, and remote shutdown technologies," additions allegedly required by US lawmakers, as reported by this newspaper . Just a few weeks earlier, Washington lifted the ban on the sale of these technologies to Chinese companies, subsequently granting both US firms the necessary export licenses to introduce H20 and MI308 chips into the Chinese market.

This is not the first time a US administration has seen significant changes and movements regarding silicon-based products. The US Chip Act, launched on February 28, 2023, by Joe Biden, then president of the state, through a comprehensive program focused on the national security of the semiconductor industry, restricted recipients of funds from expanding the manufacturing of these advanced technologies to countries that could be considered a potential threat. Unsurprisingly, China topped the list of banned regions.

Donald Trump continues his all-out war for control of the "world's most critical resource," seeking to isolate China and seize control of the semiconductor market. The president is revolutionizing the rules of international trade and now threatening 100% tariffs on chipmakers that don't produce in the U.S.