Evolving U.S. government policy toward semiconductor exports, particularly in the context of national security and foreign policy priorities could adversely affect our business. In October 2023, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the United States Department of Commerce issued requirements for certain advanced computing items that apply to the export of products classified ECCN 3A090 or 4A090 to a party headquartered in, or with an ultimate parent headquartered in, any of Country Groups D1, D4 or D5, including China (a D5 Country). These controls prevent us from shipping certain AMD Instinct™ integrated circuits and certain AMD Versal™ FPGAs to China, or to customers outside of the United States whose ultimate parent is headquartered in a D5 Country, without a license. BIS may issue new licensing requirements and regulatory controls in the future. Even new products that fall below the licensing thresholds may not be successful because we have no assurances BIS will agree that the alternative products are not subject to the new licensing requirements or that future regulations will not control the alternative products. The U.S. export restrictions on semiconductors and semiconductor technology to China and Chinese customers negatively impact our ability to sell to customers in China and make it easier for our China-based competitors to develop and sell their own solutions and reduce the need for our products. In April 2025, the U.S. government implemented a new license requirement for the export of certain semiconductor products to a D5 Country (including Hong Kong and Macau), and to companies headquartered in, or with an ultimate parent located in such D5 Country. This restriction impacts our AMD Instinct™ MI308 product. There is no assurance that the licenses needed to export such product will be granted in a timely fashion or at all by the U.S. government. The restriction has resulted in charges of approximately $800 million in inventory and related charges, which we may be unable to recover if licenses are not granted. As such, our revenues and results of operation could be negatively affected. In general, limits on sales of our offerings in the China market due to export controls puts us in a competitive disadvantage compared to domestic Chinese competitors and other unrestricted companies.
In January 2025, BIS issued a final rule, commonly referred to as the "AI Diffusion Rule," that imposes new restrictions on the export, reexport and in-country transfer of certain advanced semiconductor devices and technology. The rule seeks to control the spread of advanced AI technology in a manner that promotes its potential economic and social benefits, while also protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. It expands licensing requirements worldwide for transactions involving entities or end uses associated with the development or proliferation of AI capabilities. In May 2025, BIS announced its intention to rescind the AI Diffusion Rule, publish a regulation formalizing the rescission, and issue replacement rules in the future. The replacement rules may limit our ability to engage in certain business transactions, require new export licenses, delay shipments, or necessitate changes in our compliance processes and product designs to ensure regulatory compliance. Additionally, BIS's announced plans introduce uncertainty as we evaluate whether specific products, technologies, or software fall within the scope of any new restrictions, and whether BIS will grant licenses in a timely matter or at all. Compliance with the planned rules or rules that BIS may propose in the future could result in increased costs, disruption of key customer and supplier relationships, loss of competitive positioning in international markets or reputational harm.
The implementation or increase of any tariffs, trade protection measures or restrictions, or retaliatory actions from foreign governments could result in lost sales and adversely impact our reputation and business. The U.S. government has instituted or proposed changes in trade policies that include higher tariffs on imports into the U.S. and other government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries where we conduct our business. Such changes to U.S. trade policy have the potential to adversely impact the U.S. economy or sectors thereof and could significantly impact our business, in particular the import of products used in our business that are manufactured outside the U.S. Any retaliatory actions by affected countries and foreign governments could result in tariffs, trade protection measures or other restrictions imposed on our current and future products. Moreover, our customers' costs of doing business may increase or their sales may be negatively affected. As such, customer demand for our products may decline, which could adversely impact our ability to generate revenue and potentially result in inventory impairment changes. For example, data centers require hardware infrastructure that may increase in costs for our customers due to tariffs, and thus our customers may delay or halt investments in AI infrastructure. Further, to the extent that the United States, China or other countries seek to promote products that are produced domestically or reduce the dependence upon products from another country, they may implement regulations or policies that may negatively affect our business.
The United States and other countries' export control regulations continue to focus on targeting semiconductors associated with AI, including GPUs and associated products and services, by restricting or prohibiting their unlicensed sale or supply to U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments, persons and entities. The United States has imposed unilateral controls restricting GPUs and associated products, and in the future is likely to further adopt other unilateral or multilateral controls. The scope and application of such controls have been and may continue to be broad, which may prohibit us from exporting or providing access to our products to any or all customers in one or more markets, including but not limited to China, and could negatively impact our manufacturing, testing and warehousing locations, or could impose other conditions that limit our ability to meet demand abroad. If these export controls targeting semiconductors associated with AI including GPUs and associated products and services are further tightened, or the classification of our products under those controls' changes, our ability to export our technology, products or services could be further restricted. We may also be at a competitive disadvantage if our competitors are not subject to the same or similar restrictions or classifications. Such export controls have, and may in the future, subject downstream recipients of our products to additional restrictions on the use, resale, repair or transfer of our products and may have a material adverse effect on us. Moreover, new export control restrictions may adversely impact the ability of our research and development teams located outside of the United States from executing our product roadmaps in a timely manner or at all. In addition, deemed export restrictions could further affect our ability to provide services or develop products in the United States. From time to time, governments provide incentives or make other investments that could benefit and give a competitive advantage to our competitors. For example, the United States government enacted the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America and Science Act (CHIPS Act) of 2022 to provide financial incentives to the U.S. semiconductor industry. Government incentives, including the CHIPS Act, may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If our competitors can benefit from such government incentives and we cannot, it could strengthen our competitors' relative position and have a material adverse effect on our business.
We have equity interests in two joint ventures (collectively, the THATIC JV) with Higon Information Technology Co., Ltd. (THATIC), a third-party Chinese entity. In June 2019, BIS added certain Chinese entities to the Entity List, including THATIC and the THATIC JV. Since that time, the United States administration has called for changes to domestic and foreign policy, including policies with respect to China and Russia. Specifically, United States-China trade relations remain uncertain as the United States continues to add more Chinese companies to the Entity List and more regulations targeted to advanced computing, semiconductor manufacturing, and AI, and China has imposed retaliatory tariffs. Further, the United States and other countries and coalitions have issued sanctions and revisions to export control and other regulations against Russia, Belarus and the DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine, due to the conflict in Ukraine.
We may, from time to time, receive technical data from third parties that is subject to the International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR), which are administered by the U.S. Department of State. Export Administration Regulation (EAR) governs the export and re-export of certain AMD products, including FPGAs, as well as the transfer of related technologies or provision of services, whether in the U.S. or abroad. We are required to maintain an internal compliance program and security infrastructure to meet EAR and ITAR requirements. An inability to obtain the required export licenses, or to predict when or pursuant to which conditions they will be granted, increases the difficulties of forecasting shipments. When we file license applications or Notification Advanced Computing (NAC) exception notices we have no assurance that BIS will grant any exemptions or licenses or that the BIS will act on the filings in a timely manner. Even if BIS grants a requested license, the license may come with burdensome conditions that we cannot or decide not to fulfill. In addition, security or compliance program failures that could result in penalties or a loss of export privileges, as well as stringent licensing restrictions that may make our products less attractive to overseas customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or operating results.