U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested he might allow Nvidia to sell a scaled-down version of its next-generation advanced GPU chip in China, despite deep-seated fears in Washington that China could harness U.

The arrangement is highly unusual, as U.S. tech export controls are usually based on national security, rather than whether they can raise funds for Washington.

Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. have agreed to pay 15% of their revenues from Chinese AI chip sales to the US government in an unusual, legally questionable deal that reflects the Trump administration’s willingness to soften export controls in exchange for financial payouts.