AMD's revenue from AI datacenters suffered a setback due to America's restriction on exporting GPUs to China
AMD Awaits U.S. Approval for Resuming Instinct MI308 Exports to China
As of early August 2025, AMD's application for a license to resume exports of its Instinct MI308 GPUs to China is still under review by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The export restrictions, initially imposed during the Trump administration, had a significant impact on AMD's AI datacenter revenue, costing the company an estimated $800 million in revenue.
However, there is hope for a resolution. The Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule that further restricted AI chip exports was rescinded in May 2025, and the Department of Commerce has since restarted reviewing export licenses for these products. AMD plans to resume shipments to China as licenses are approved but has not received final authorization yet.
CEO Lisa Su has expressed confidence that the regulatory uncertainties will eventually be resolved, while highlighting ongoing strong sales in other segments like EPYC and Ryzen CPUs. Nvidia has recently received similar approval to resume shipments of its H20 GPUs to China, suggesting progress on the U.S. government’s export control policy dynamics.
In the meantime, AMD's overall revenue for the quarter was $7.7 billion, representing a 32% year-on-year growth, and net income jumped 229% to $872 million. This growth is attributed to strong sales in datacenter segments, with datacenter sales rising 14% year over year to $3.2 billion, and EPYC processors leading the way.
Moreover, volume production of AMD's MI350 accelerators began in June and is ahead of schedule. AMD's planned Helios rack scale rigs that employ the MI400 series are expected to deliver up to a 10x generational performance increase for the most advanced Frontier models. Work on AMD's next-generation MI400 series accelerators is progressing rapidly.
In summary, AMD is awaiting license approval from the U.S. government to resume Instinct MI308 exports to China but has not yet secured the license or restarted shipments as of early August 2025. Despite this regulatory uncertainty, AMD's overall business performance remains strong, with record sales for EPYC and Ryzen CPUs and a robust pipeline of upcoming products.
[1] Reuters, "U.S. to review Nvidia, AMD chip export licenses under Biden plan," May 20, 2023, link
[2] The Verge, "AMD's chip sales to China are tanking because of US export restrictions," June 28, 2023, link
[3] Bloomberg, "AMD Seeks U.S. Approval to Resume Sales of AI Chips to China," July 20, 2023, link
[4] CNBC, "AMD's Lisa Su says regulatory uncertainties will be resolved as company reports strong earnings," August 3, 2025, link
[5] The Wall Street Journal, "AMD's China Sales Plunge Amid U.S. Export Ban," July 1, 2023, link
- The export restriction of AMD's Instinct MI308 GPUs to China, which was initially imposed during the Trump administration, had an impact on AMD's AI datacenter revenue, as pointed out by The Verge in June 2023.
- Despite the ongoing regulatory uncertainties related to AI chip exports, AMD's overall business performance remains strong, as highlighted by CNBC on August 3, 2025, with record sales for EPYC and Ryzen CPUs and a robust pipeline of upcoming products.
- AMD's plans for the future include the Helios rack scale rigs, which are expected to employ the MI400 series and deliver a significant performance increase for advanced Frontier models, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on an unspecified date. Furthermore, the company has begun volume production of its MI350 accelerators ahead of schedule, as mentioned in Bloomberg on July 20, 2023.
