NVIDIA and AMD have agreed to a "highly unusual" deal with the US government to resume sales of previous generations of AI chips to Chinese companies. According to the Financial Times, the manufacturers will each transfer 15% of the revenue from the sales of these chips to the US federal budget.
We are talking about NVIDIA's H20 and AMD's MI308 - specially limited versions of flagship accelerators adapted to export restrictions. The publication's sources claim that the US administration has not yet decided what exactly the funds will be used for.
According to an American official, the deal was part of an arrangement that allowed "the gates to open" for limited supplies while maintaining control over strategic technologies.
Recall that recently, two Chinese citizens were arrested in the US for smuggling the most advanced NVIDIA AI chips. By the way, smuggling of high-tech chips has become an acute problem for Washington. According to the Financial Times, after Donald Trump tightened restrictions in early 2025, NVIDIA chips worth more than $1 billion entered China.