Tech giants Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of their revenues from chip sales in China under an unprecedented arrangement to secure export licences for semiconductors, the Financial Times reported.
The revenue-sharing agreement applies to Nvidia's H20 chips and AMD's MI308 chips - with both companies receiving export licences again last week.
China accounts for roughly 13% of Nvidia's total revenue, making this arrangement financially significant for the AI chip giant.
The deal represents a dramatic policy shift after months of export restrictions.
Nvidia previously disclosed a US$5.5 billion charge related to H20 chip export restrictions, while AMD warned of an $800 million hit from curbs on its MI308 products.
The Commerce Department reversed an April ban on H20 chip sales to China last month, and this new revenue-sharing model marks an unusual governmental approach to tech export controls.
The Trump administration has yet to determine how the collected revenues will be used, however, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Trump last week, suggesting high-level talks regarding the new deal were undertaken.
Nvidia said it “follows rules the U.S. government sets for its participation in worldwide markets”, noting it hasn't shipped H20 to China for months.
AMD did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
