U.S. Government to Take Cut of Chip Sales to China

“Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to pay the United States 15 percent of the money they take in from selling artificial intelligence chips to China, as part of a highly unusual financial agreement with the Trump administration,” the New York Times reports.

“There are few precedents for the Commerce Department agreeing to grant licenses for exports in exchange for a share of revenue. But the unorthodox payments are consistent with Mr. Trump’s increasingly interventionist role in international business deals involving American companies.”

Wall Street Journal : “It is unusual for companies to essentially pay for export licenses. The agreements follow criticism from national-security hawks who fear the chips and other technology will boost China’s AI ecosystem and military.”