I called some CEOs yesterday to get their thoughts on Nvidia and AMD’s deal to give the U.S. government a 15% cut of AI chip sales to China to secure export licenses. Most were surprisingly sanguine about the unusual arrangement.

China is a major market for both NVIDIA and AMD. In the fiscal year ending January 26, NVIDIA earned $17 billion from China, accounting for 13% of its total sales. Meanwhile, AMD reported $6.2 billion in revenue from China in 2024, which made up 24% of its overall revenue.

Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay the US government 15% of their revenues from semiconductor sales to China in exchange for export licenses, an unprecedented quid pro quo arrangement aimed at solidifying America’s AI business dominance while maintaining trade ties with China.