Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the American semiconductor giant Nvidia agreed to pay the United States government 15% of its income from the sale of artificial intelligence fleas (AI) H20 in China.
The CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang met with Donald Trump on the last last Wednesday and agreed to donate part of his income to the United States government, according to the information initially published in Financial Times, Bloomberg and the New York Times.
This very unusual agreement in international trade reflects the strong participation of the Head of State in commercial activities, especially technological, of the pressure exerted on Apple to relocate its production in the United States to negotiations around the possible sale of Tiktok.
“We follow the rules established by the United States government for our participation in global markets,” Nvidia said about a written response to the AFP on Monday, not to mention 15%.
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), another major American group specializing in microprocessors and advanced chips, has made a similar agreement for its MI308 chips, according to the same US media.
Less sophisticated fleas
Nvidia, who surfs the generative wave launched by Openai with Chatgpt, is in the heart of technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
The Californian company had designed H20 fleas, less perfected than the advanced fleas it sells to its neighbors in Silicon Valley, to meet the export restrictions of advanced components to China.
In fact, the United States is looking at all costs to maintain its advance in AI, for commercial interest and in the name of national security.
“Although we have not sent [puces] H20 in China for months, we hope that export control rules allow the United States to be competitive in China and worldwide, “Nvidia said in his press release.
The company also considered that the United States could not afford to “repeat” its mistakes made in the 5G field and “lose [leur] Telecommunications leadership. “
The American chip “can become the global standard if we embarked on the race,” said Nvidia.
“Political” tribute
Last month, the company became the first to exceed 4,000 billion dollars in market capitalization, showing how markets are focusing on AI, revolutionizing the world economy.
In early July, Nvidia said she would resume sales of her H20 chips in China, after US authorities have raised certain export restrictions to the Asian country.
The fact of paying 15% of the products of the sale in China is “in all aspects of a political tax that does not say its name,” says Stephen Innes, Spi AM analyst.
“Nvidia and AMD have agreed to yield to the US government 15% of the income of their flea sales in China in exchange for the gold entry ticket that are export licenses,” he added, and also pointed out the Mutism of the AMD company.
According to the New York Times, this agreement could bring more than $ 2 billion to the United States government.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced last week that he planned to impose 100% of customs duties in “pulses and semiconductors.” It has not specified since the date of entry into force of this new customs tax.
“But the good news for companies like Apple is that if you build (factories) in the United States or if you are committed to do so, you will not have to pay,” he added.
At his side, Apple Tim Cook Boss had just promised $ 100 billion in additional investments in the United States and the implementation of a program aimed at manufacturing “strategic components present in Apple products worldwide.”
Source: BFM TV
