Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent is apparently negotiating with the US government in order to be allowed to keep its stakes in Epic Games and Riot.

That's according to Reuters, the firm has been in talks with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which has been looking into the handling of user data due to Epic and Riot's connections to Tencent and therefore China.

Tencent bought a 40 per cent stake in Epic back in 2012, while the firm has owned League of Legends maker Riot entirely since 2015.

The Chinese giant has been in discussions over risk mitigation, though the exact details of this are not known. Generally, this would involve limiting the owner of a company's involvement in it if there's deemed to be national security risks. In a comment to Reuters, a Riot spokesperson said that it boasted "industry-leading practices" in place to protect user data, while a source told the outlet that Epic does not share user data with Tencent.

Word that the US government was looking into Tencent's involvement with companies such as Epic and Riot broke in September last year. This was the latest swipe in the on-going butting of heads between the US and China.