US Intelligence Probes Megaspeed Executive Tied to Nvidia's Jensen Huang

US intelligence services have spent at least two years tracking Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, and have concluded that she works for Chinese intelligence, according to a New York Times investigation. Also known as Huang Le, she drew attention because of her links to Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia.

The case is rooted in the US-China contest over artificial intelligence. On 26 August 2022, Washington told Nvidia it needed a special licence to export two of its most advanced AI accelerators, the A100 and H100, to China. The aim was largely to keep them away from Chinese organisations with military ties. The rule put Nvidia, and Jensen Huang personally, in the sights of both governments.

What authorities suspect

Megaspeed operates data centres in Southeast Asia and rents computing capacity to several Chinese companies, Alibaba among them. US authorities suspect it has helped Chinese organisations that cannot buy Nvidia's most advanced AI chips to obtain them anyway. They also believe Alice Huang and Jensen Huang have had a close professional and social relationship for at least two years.

The Times says the two were photographed together at a Taipei bar in June 2024 during a gathering that included other tech executives, and again leaving a business dinner with industry suppliers in Taipei in May 2025. The report does not state that they have or had a romantic relationship, though it hints at the possibility.

Nvidia and Megaspeed respond

Jensen Huang has repeatedly criticised US export controls, warning both the Biden and Trump administrations that they would accelerate China's semiconductor industry. That stance has reportedly fuelled suspicion at the Commerce Department, which enforces the rules.

Nvidia denies any wrongdoing. It says the relationship between the two is strictly commercial and that customers receive ordinary business information, never sensitive trade secrets or data relevant to US national security. Megaspeed has opened an internal investigation and says it is willing to cooperate with the US government.

The episode shows that espionage is becoming another front in the chip rivalry, alongside sanctions and export restrictions. No charges have been reported.