How did AMD resume MI308 sales to China after the April 2025 halt?
AMD's route back was licensing rather than a broad reversal of controls. After the April halt, Commerce said it would resume reviewing MI308 applications; AMD later had some licenses and said it was prepared to pay the expected 15 percent of China revenue. That enabled roughly $390 million of late-2025 MI308 sales from orders placed early in 2025, but the orders then ran off and China GPU revenue was not material in the following quarter.
Trace the chain
MI308 sales restart
- 1MI308 license haltRegulatory
New license requirement hits the MI308; AMD warns of up to $800 million in charges
A day after Nvidia disclosed the H20 license requirement and a $5.5 billion charge, AMD filed an 8-K saying the same new rule covered exports of its MI308 to China, Hong Kong, Macau and other D:5 countries. It expected up to $800 million of inventory, purchase-commitment and reserve charges, said it would apply for licenses with no assurance of approval, and its shares fell more than 7 percent.
AMD Form 8-K (SEC) ·
The Export Control applies to the Company’s MI308 products. The Company expects to apply for licenses but there is no assurance that licenses will be granted. The Company expects that the Export Control may result in…
Why it matters here. The new MI308 license requirement left AMD planning to apply for licenses without assurance of approval, making Nvidia's subsequent assurance of grants for comparable H20 licenses relevant.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- 2H20 approvals assuredAnnouncement
Nvidia says the US has assured it H20 licenses will be granted and sales to China will resume
After Jensen Huang met officials in Washington and travelled to Beijing, Nvidia said the U.S. government had assured it that H20 export licenses would be granted and that it hoped to start deliveries soon. It also announced an RTX Pro GPU aimed at the China market.
Nvidia Blog ·
The U.S. government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be granted, and NVIDIA hopes to start deliveries soon.
Why it matters here. The U.S. assurance that Nvidia's H20 licenses would be granted was followed the next day by AMD's statement that Commerce would move forward with MI308 applications.
US Export Controls on Nvidia AI Chips to China: A100 to H20 to H200
- 3MI308 reviews restartAnnouncement
Commerce will resume reviewing MI308 licenses; AMD says shipments will restart once approved
The day after Nvidia said it had been assured H20 licenses would be granted, AMD said the Commerce Department would move forward with its MI308 license applications and that it planned to resume shipments as approvals came, praising the administration's trade negotiations. The stock rose more than 6 percent.
CNBC ·
The company said Tuesday that the U.S. Commerce Department plans to resume reviewing its license applications to send the products to the world's second-largest economy. AMD said it plans to start shipments once those…
Why it matters here. Resumed reviews restored a route to individual MI308 approvals, so the White House could describe the ensuing China-chip licenses as carrying a 15 percent revenue payment.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- 4Fifteen percent arrangementRegulatory
White House confirms Nvidia and AMD will hand over 15 percent of China chip revenue for their licenses
After the Financial Times reported the arrangement, a White House official confirmed to CBS News that Nvidia and AMD had agreed to pay the US government 15 percent of revenue from H20 and MI308 sales in China as a condition of the export licenses granted the previous week. No regulation was published, a point AMD would later flag to investors.
CBS News ·
U.S. chipmakers Nvidia and AMD will pay the U.S. government 15% of revenue generated by sales of their AI chips in China, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.
Why it matters here. The confirmed arrangement meant AMD could hold MI308 licenses while stating that it was prepared to make the 15 percent payment if it shipped chips.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- 5AMD prepares to payAnnouncement
Su: AMD holds MI308 licenses and is prepared to pay the 15 percent
Speaking at a Wired conference in San Francisco, Su said AMD had licenses to ship some MI308 chips to China and would pay the 15 percent levy if it shipped them, the company's first direct public acceptance of the arrangement.
Reuters (via Yahoo Finance) ·
Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su on Thursday said the company has licenses to ship some of its MI 308 chips to China and is prepared to pay a 15% tax to the U.S. government if it ships them.
Why it matters here. With some MI308 licenses and stated readiness to pay, AMD was positioned to begin the shipments later recorded as late-2025 China revenue.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- 6First MI308 salesFinancial
Q4 2025: first MI308 revenue, about $390 million, and a $360 million reserve release
AMD's fourth quarter included roughly $390 million of MI308 sales to China that were not in its guidance, filled from orders placed early in 2025, plus the release of about $360 million of the inventory reserves booked in the second quarter. It guided to about $100 million of MI308 revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and nothing beyond, with Su calling China 'a very dynamic situation' and saying MI325 license applications had been submitted.
AMD Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1 (SEC) ·
In the fourth quarter, AMD benefited from an approximate $360 million release of previously reserved AMD Instinct™ MI308 inventory and related charges. Fourth quarter AMD Instinct MI308 revenue to China was…
Why it matters here. The $390 million came from a backlog placed early in 2025 rather than from new orders, so the China line had nowhere to go once it was filled.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- 7Orders run offFinancial
Q1 2026: China GPU revenue 'not material' as the MI308 orders run off
Data center AI revenue dipped sequentially in the first quarter, which AMD attributed to lower China revenue after the $390 million MI308 quarter, and CFO Jean Hu said China revenue in the period was not material. AMD did not forecast further China GPU sales, leaving the MI325 licenses as an option rather than a plan.
The Motley Fool (call transcript) ·
I think if you look at Q1, we did mention Data Center AI was down modest pace sequentially, primarily due to lower China revenue in the quarter.
Why it matters here. The restart was therefore a limited release of existing MI308 demand rather than China GPU revenue becoming material in the following quarter.
US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
Changes to this chain
- Proposal #48 accepted (verify:v2): why of step 1 -> The new MI308 license requirement left AMD planning to apply for licenses without assurance of approval, making Nvidia's subsequent assurance of grants for comparable H20 licenses relevant.
- Step 6 why edited by the editor: Bridge to the next step instead of restating the entry
Timelines in this chain
- US Export Controls on AMD's AI Chips in China: From the MI250 License to MI308 and MI325X
- US Export Controls on Nvidia AI Chips to China: A100 to H20 to H200
- AMD Instinct: From MI300X to Helios and the Gigawatt Deals
A chain is written by the editor from entries already published on the timelines above, each of which was read against its source before publication. The chain changes when those entries do. Data and terms.