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‘Part of CEO's job': Nvidia says Jensen Huang's ties with suspected China spy ‘not unusual’
This came after a report said the Nvidia CEO might have been the target of a suspected Chinese intelligence operation through his association with an executive.
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Nvidia on Thursday responded to its chief executive officer Jensen Huang's ties to Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed and its top executive Alice Huang or Huang Le, saying these were normal and like any other customer.
This came after a New York Times report said Huang might have been the target of a suspected Chinese intelligence operation through his association with Alice. US intelligence agencies recently found that the Megaspeed executive was working for Chinese intelligence and passing information to Beijing.
This allegedly raised concerns in Washington because of her close relationship with the Nvidia CEO, who is one of the most influential figures in the artificial intelligence industry. However, a spokesperson for Nvidia, John Rizzo, brushed off such concerns, saying, “Jensen’s interactions with Huang [Alice] are not unusual or unexpected. Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year.”
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Nvidia further said it had previously investigated and debunked claims that Megaspeed was smuggling chips to China.
Alice's ties with Nvidia chief raised alarm; Trump was briefed about issue
Alice Huang or Huang Le was under surveillance for more than a year for diverting advanced Nvidia AI chips to China, New York Times reported quoting US intelligence officials.
According to the report, US intelligence officials were alarmed when they found that Beijing was getting information from someone with direct access to the Nvidia chief, a key figure in America’s AI revolution as well as an influential ally of President Donald Trump.
Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings, but chose not to act amid concerns about chip sales and diplomatic relations with China.
American officials suspected that Alice was helping China evade restrictions on its ability to gain access to advanced AI chips.
US officials were troubled by the fact that Alice could be gleaning information about Nvidia, which has played a key role in helping the US maintain its edge over China in artificial intelligence.
Megaspeed under US investigation since 2024
Megaspeed has been under US investigation since late 2024, when a commerce department official visited its data centre in Malaysia and found it to be suspicious. The official found that the Nvidia equipment was allegedly still packed in boxes, which suggested that it was being shipped in or out rather than installed there.
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In a statement to NYT, Megaspeed said its “current leadership” takes the matter “extremely seriously and is committed to getting to the facts behind these allegations”. A person familiar with Megaspeed’s operations said that Alice has become less active in the company in the wake of American investigations.
Singapore has conducted its own investigation into Megaspeed. In 2025, Singaporean authorities also brought Alice in for questioning, but subsequently released her.
The White House, the CIA and the National Security Agency have all declined to comment on the issue.
When asked for comment on US investigations that Alice has been collecting intelligence on behalf of Beijing, Liu Chang, the spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the US was pursuing a campaign of “groundless smears and slanders” against China.
