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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have been a target of Chinese spy plot: Report
US intelligence agencies found that Alice Huang, a Chinese national, was working for China's intelligence and passing information to Beijing.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have been the target of a suspected Chinese intelligence operation through his association with a Singapore-based business executive, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese national and senior executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, was working for Chinese intelligence and passing information to Beijing, US intelligence agencies found. This allegedly raised concerns in Washington because of her close relationship with Jensen Huang, one of the most influential figures in the artificial intelligence industry. Megaspeed buys computing equipment powered by Nvidia chips and rents data centre capacity to businesses, including Chinese technology giant Alibaba.
Nvidia rejected suggestions that Jensen Huang’s interactions with Alice Huang were unusual. Company spokesperson John Rizzo told the NYT, “Jensen’s interactions with Ms Huang are not unusual or unexpected. Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year.”
US President Donald Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings roughly a year ago but chose not to act, according to the report. Trump has been reluctant to disrupt Nvidia’s chip sales, which contribute to the US economy and stock market, or further complicate trade relations with China.
US officials initially did not believe Jensen Huang knew that Alice Huang was allegedly gathering intelligence for Beijing. Some senior officials in the Trump administration have since questioned whether he could have remained unaware of her suspected activities. Jensen Huang has not received a warning, known as a defensive briefing, about the alleged intelligence operation, according to people familiar with the surveillance. The surveillance of Alice Huang is continuing, the report said.
Rizzo said Nvidia was confident that the US government would alert the company if it believed someone posed a threat to American industry. He added that customers such as Megaspeed receive routine business information rather than sensitive company secrets.
Megaspeed said it was taking the allegations seriously and had hired outside legal counsel to investigate. It also said it had informed the US government of its willingness to cooperate. Alice Huang did not respond to requests for comment.
The White House, the CIA and the National Security Agency declined to comment. Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang rejected the allegations, accusing the US of pursuing a campaign of “groundless smears and slanders” against China.
Megaspeed under scrutiny over Nvidia chips
US authorities have been investigating Megaspeed since late 2024 over suspicions that it helped China bypass restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips. The investigation began after a Commerce Department official found Nvidia equipment still packed in boxes during a visit to the company’s data centre in Malaysia.
Megaspeed buys Nvidia-powered computing equipment and rents data centre capacity to Chinese businesses, including Alibaba. US officials suspect some chips acquired through its network may have been illegally diverted to China. Singaporean authorities questioned Alice Huang in 2025 before releasing her. The US investigation was transferred to the Justice Department this year.
Trade records obtained by ImportGenius show that Megaspeed’s sister company in Malaysia bought at least $4.8 billion worth of advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026, the NYT reported.
The US has restricted exports of its most advanced Nvidia chips to China since 2022. Data centres in Southeast Asia can rent computing capacity to Chinese businesses, raising concerns that China could gain access to restricted technology. Trump rolled back some restrictions introduced by the Biden administration, but his government is considering whether to tighten the rules again.
Jensen Huang's ties with Trump
Jensen Huang has lobbied the Trump administration to ease restrictions on Nvidia chip sales to China. Trump approved sales of older-generation Nvidia chips to China last year in exchange for a share of the revenue but rejected a proposal to allow sales of more powerful chips.
The NYT reported that the relationship between Trump and Huang has complicated efforts to tighten export controls. Some investigations and proposed trade sanctions involving Nvidia or China reportedly stalled within the commerce department.
Huang attended a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. Nvidia has also pledged to invest $500 billion in US manufacturing and donated at least $20 million to Trump’s ballroom fund, according to people cited by the NYT.
Jensen Huang and Alice Huang were photographed together at a technology industry gathering in Taipei in June 2024 and were seen together again after a business dinner in May 2025.
