U.S. authorities set to receive 15% of AI-capable chip sales revenue from Nvidia and AMD in China, disregarding security specialists' advisories regarding potential risks.
In an unprecedented move, tech giants Nvidia and AMD have reached an agreement with the U.S. government, allowing them to sell certain AI chips to China in exchange for paying 15% of their revenue from those sales to the U.S. Commerce Department.
The agreement, which grants Nvidia the authorisation to sell its H20 AI chip and AMD its MI308 AI chip to Chinese customers, comes after U.S. export controls established in 2023 and intensified in April 2025, which banned sales of advanced AI chips to China due to national security concerns.
The H20 chip, designed by Nvidia to comply with earlier restrictions, was previously banned from sale until negotiations led to this revenue-sharing agreement. The MI308 chip from AMD is another high-performance AI accelerator involved in the deal.
The deal has stirred bipartisan criticism and raised constitutional and strategic concerns. Some US politicians have suggested adding trackers to these chips that would render them inoperable if they end up in China. Legal experts have questioned the constitutionality of the agreement, as the U.S. Constitution’s export clause generally prohibits taxes or duties on exports.
The deal specifically grants Nvidia export licenses for the H20 chip, described by former President Trump as “essentially an old chip,” and AMD for the MI308. The Commerce Department is finalizing the legal details, while the backdrop involves broader global supply chain dynamics, as these chips rely on manufacturing and components from international suppliers like Taiwan’s TSMC and Netherlands’ ASML.
This deal could set a global precedent, influencing other countries’ tech export policies. The deal demonstrates a novel and controversial model of trade control blending export licensing with revenue sharing, marking a notable shift in how the U.S. regulates high-tech exports to China.
Jody Macgregor, a veteran journalist with a history in music journalism and co-hosting Australia’s first radio show about videogames, authored an article about this agreement. Macgregor, who has also written for several gaming and tech publications, including Rock Paper Shotgun, GamesRadar, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, provided insightful commentary on the political implications of the deal.
In other news, Macgregor's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015. He also lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame. When it comes to fans, the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 is the best overall fan, according to an article, while the Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 is the best midrange fan and the Arctic P12 PWM PST is the best budget fan. For radiators, the Arctic P12 Pro is the best choice, and the NZXT F120 RGB Duo is the best budget RGB fan.
References: 1. Nvidia, AMD to pay 15% of China revenue to U.S. government under trade agreement 2. Nvidia and AMD reach deal with U.S. government to sell AI chips to China 3. The global implications of the Nvidia-AMD-U.S. government trade agreement 4. Constitutional concerns raised over Nvidia-AMD trade agreement with U.S. government
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