Nvidia would benefit from being permitted sales to China, but the deal with the Trump administration is likely to face legal scrutiny.

The Trump administration’s deals with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to take a cut of their AI chip sales in China are certainly unusual. But for a profit machine like Nvidia, they may not move the needle.

Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. agreed to pay 15% of their revenues from Chinese AI chip sales to the US government in a deal to secure export licenses, an unusual arrangement that