Shortly after NVIDIA announced the approval of its H20 chip by the US government for re-entry into the Chinese market, chip behemoth Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) confirmed the resumption of exports of the MI308 chip, specifically tailored for the Chinese market, to China.

AMD had previously been informed by the US Department of Commerce that the export license application for the MI308 chip had entered the review process and was anticipated to be approved.

This decision signifies a pivotal shift in the US export policy towards AI chips destined for China.

AMD has clearly communicated to tech media that the export license application for the MI308 chip is currently under review and the company is confident of its approval.

The MI308, an AI accelerator developed by AMD based on the MI300 series architecture, is engineered to meet the training and inference needs of various vertical models. While its performance lags slightly behind NVIDIA's H100, as a bespoke product for the Chinese market, it constitutes a vital component of the domestic AI infrastructure.

During the Biden administration, so-called AI proliferation restrictions were implemented, which were subsequently replaced by targeted restrictions on key chips like the H20 and MI308 after being rescinded by the Trump administration. Consequently, AMD incurred losses of approximately $800 million due to the embargo on the MI308, which, although significantly less than NVIDIA's $5.5 billion inventory write-down, still had a notable financial impact.

Upon the announcement of the lifting of the ban, AMD's share price surged by nearly 5% in pre-market trading, mirroring NVIDIA's increase, indicating the market's positive reception to this policy change.

In its statement, AMD expressed gratitude to the Trump administration for its commitment to advancing trade negotiations and maintaining the US's leadership in AI.

Both NVIDIA and AMD have affirmed that they will promptly resume shipments to China upon the approval of their respective export licenses.