America Just Found a Way to Profit From AI Chip Sales to China — Critics Call It Risky

Trump Administration Strikes Unprecedented Deal on AI Chip Sales to China

The Trump administration has granted Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) permission to resume selling certain downgraded artificial intelligence chips to China — but only if the U.S. government gets 15% of the revenue from those sales.

The unusual revenue-sharing arrangement follows a White House meeting last week between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and President Donald Trump. Licenses for Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s MI308 processors — lower-performance versions of their flagship AI chips — were issued just two days later.

“We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets,” Nvidia said in a statement, expressing hope the policy will help America “compete in China and worldwide.” AMD has not yet commented.

From Ban to Billion-Dollar Opportunity

Earlier this year, the Trump administration extended Biden-era export restrictions to block even these scaled-down chips, citing fears that advanced processors could aid China’s military. But after Trump hinted at a policy shift in June, the administration reversed course — with the condition that 15% of Chinese sales go directly to the U.S. government.

Trade experts say the deal is without precedent. “No American company has ever been required to hand over a share of revenue to secure an export license,” Deborah Elms, a Singapore-based trade policy analyst, told the BBC.

According to Bernstein Research, Nvidia could sell roughly 1.5 million H20 chips in China this year, generating around $23 billion in revenue. That means Washington’s cut could exceed $3 billion.