US intelligence agencies believe a Chinese businesswoman who developed a close relationship with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang was working as an intelligence asset for Beijing, according to a report by The New York Times published on Thursday.
The report said Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a former senior executive at Singapore-based data centre operator Megaspeed, came under surveillance during an investigation into suspected efforts to help Chinese businesses obtain advanced artificial intelligence chips made by Nvidia.
US authorities reportedly concluded that she was passing information to Beijing. Her relationship with Jensen Huang subsequently raised concerns about whether Chinese intelligence could have gained insights into Nvidia’s operations and Washington’s policies on advanced chip exports.
According to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings about a year ago but did not take action.
The newspaper, citing people familiar with the surveillance and government officials, reported that the administration was reluctant to disrupt Nvidia’s chip sales or worsen trade relations with China.
Jensen Huang was reportedly not given a formal defensive briefing, a warning that US authorities sometimes provide Americans who may be targets of foreign intelligence operations.
The findings also raised questions about whether China could have gained insights into Trump’s thinking on advanced semiconductor exports, an issue at the centre of the technological and economic rivalry between the United States and China.
The report said US intelligence agencies intercepted communications involving Alice Huang and an American citizen. The American was subsequently identified as Jensen Huang through a process known as unmasking, which allows the identity of a US citizen incidentally captured during authorised foreign-intelligence surveillance to be disclosed under specified conditions.
Megaspeed’s Nvidia Chip Purchases
The intelligence concerns emerged from a broader US investigation into whether Megaspeed helped Chinese businesses obtain advanced Nvidia hardware despite American export restrictions.
The investigation reportedly began in late 2024 after a US Commerce Department official visited a data centre operated by the company in Malaysia. Equipment containing Nvidia technology was allegedly found packed in boxes rather than installed at the facility, raising suspicions about whether the hardware was being moved elsewhere.
According to The New York Times, a Malaysian sister company of Megaspeed purchased at least $4.8 billion worth of advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia chips and technology between June 2024 and February 2026, based on trade records obtained from ImportGenius.
Megaspeed operates a business model in which it acquires computing equipment and rents data centre capacity to customers, including Chinese technology company Alibaba.
US officials reportedly suspect that some Nvidia chips acquired through the company’s network may have been diverted illegally into China. The investigation was transferred from the Commerce Department to the Justice Department in 2026, according to the newspaper.
The allegations come amid wider US efforts to prevent advanced AI processors from reaching restricted Chinese end users through intermediaries in Southeast Asia.
Jensen Huang’s Links to Alice Huang
The newspaper reported that photographs posted on LinkedIn showed Jensen Huang and Alice Huang together at a bar in Taipei in June 2024, following a technology trade show.
They were reportedly seen together again in May 2025, leaving a restaurant after a business dinner involving other AI suppliers with US intelligence agencies allegedly concluding that Alice Huang was acting on behalf of China.
However, the report does not establish that their meetings involved the exchange of classified information or that Jensen Huang was aware of the alleged intelligence activity.
