The U.S. government will take 15% of the revenue that chipmaker Nvidia pulls in from sales in China of its H20 microchip, which is used in the development of artificial intelligence, President Trump said on Monday.
At a news conference at the White House, Trump said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang asked for restrictions on exports to be eased so that Nvidia could sell H20s into the Chinese market.
"And I said if I'm going to do that I want you to pay us as a country something, because I'm giving you a release," Trump said.
Trump said he asked for a 20% cut, and Huang haggled him down to 15%.
Trump called the H20 "obsolete," and "an old chip that China already has … in a different form, different name." Nvidia designed the H20 to be less powerful than the company's top-of-the-line microchips to comply with export controls.
It is unclear under what executive authority the unprecedented payment agreement was forged, and whether it is considered a tax.
In a statement, Nvidia said it follows "rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets," although a spokesperson declined to elaborate and did not confirm the 15% figure.
Reports in the Financial Times and other news outlets have said Nvidia competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) would also pass the U.S. government 15% of its revenue from sales to China of its MI308 chip. Trump did not mention AMD during the news conference, and the company did not immediately respond to a request from NPR for a comment.
The revenue sharing agreement is the latest twist in a years-long back-and-forth over sales to China of advanced microchips used in the development of artificial intelligence.
During his first administration, Trump restricted the export of high-end chips to China over concerns they could sharpen China's technological edge and threaten U.S. national security. The Biden administration ratcheted up export controls on chips and chipmaking gear.
This spring, once back in office, Trump reversed course, allowing Nvidia to sell H20 chips to China, pausing plans for additional restrictions. In July, AMD said the Commerce Department would review licenses for the export of certain chips to China.
"While we haven't shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide," Nvidia's statement said.
Trump suggested that Nvidia's Blackwell chip, which he called "super duper advanced," might also be in play, but in a diminished form — and that he'd want a 30-to-50% cut of those sales.
In July, Chinese regulators met Nvidia representatives to ask about possible "back doors" and other security risks in the H20. Nvidia said in a statement cybersecurity is critically important, and its chips have no backdoors or ways to be remotely accessed or controlled.
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