Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's alleged affair with Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang has caused a stir, particularly in the United States, where officials suspected that the Megaspeed director was an intelligence asset working for China.
However, with Jensen Huang stepping down as Nvidia CEO and a US government investigation underway, intelligence officials have expressed doubts over whether Alice Huang was spying for Beijing. Track LIVE updates on Nvidia here
According to a CNN report, an intelligence source familiar with the matter said there was insufficient evidence to establish that Huang Le, Alice Huang's Chinese name, was spying for Beijing.
Deep Dive
Has the US government determined that Alice Huang was spying for China?
Why is Alice Huang considered a national security risk if she has not been proven to be a spy?
What action did Singapore take against Alice Huang?
Also Read | Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO amid Alice Huang affair controversy
However, officials have maintained that even if she was not a spy, she could still pose a national security risk.
According to CNN, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been investigating Alice Huang's alleged relationship with Jensen Huang for at least a year. However, US Attorney General Todd Blanche said there was insufficient evidence to establish "who she is or is not".
{{/usCountry}}According to CNN, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been investigating Alice Huang's alleged relationship with Jensen Huang for at least a year. However, US Attorney General Todd Blanche said there was insufficient evidence to establish "who she is or is not".
{{/usCountry}}"There’s no, there’s no conclusions reached by the Department of Justice or by me or by Director (Kash) Patel around who she is or is not," Blanche said at a press conference on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump also told reporters that Alice Huang's alleged links to Chinese intelligence had not been established.
"Well, the big thing is, was the woman a spy? And I don’t know if that’s been determined yet. But if the woman was a spy, yes. If the woman was not a spy, perhaps it would be different," Trump said on Thursday.
Also Read | Trump urged Jensen Huang to fight for his job ahead of resignation as Nvidia CEO: Report
CIA sources told CNN that some officials believe the allegations against Alice Huang are "not entirely accurate and over-torqued".
However, the possibility that she had links to Chinese intelligence has not been entirely ruled out, given her access to Jensen Huang and, by extension, US President Donald Trump.
Alice Huang's role remains under scrutiny, particularly because of her position at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based firm and a key Nvidia cloud partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Department of Justice and the Commerce Department began investigating the company in 2024 as part of a broader probe into a network of foreign shell companies suspected of diverting restricted Nvidia chips to China. Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing.
China, meanwhile, has denied that Alice Huang worked as an intelligence asset for Beijing. It has accused the US of making baseless spying allegations to justify its technology restrictions against China.
Separately, Democratic Representative Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Politico that he left a classified briefing with senior intelligence officials earlier this week still unsure about the nature of Alice Huang's relationship with the Chinese government.