An alleged Chinese spy developed a “close relationship” with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, setting off alarms among US intelligence officials who were secretly monitoring her communications, according to a report.
The woman, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen who has served as a top executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer and cloud partner that provides AI computing power to Chinese companies including Alibaba, the New York Times reported Thursday.
US intelligence agencies concluded that Alice Huang — seen in photos enjoying whiskey and dining with the tech titan — was secretly funneling information to Beijing, according to the paper, which cited people briefed on classified intelligence findings.
US electronic surveillance identified Jensen Huang as one of Alice Huang’s contacts, but the report offered no evidence that he knew of her alleged intelligence activities.
The Times could not determine what information she passed along or how valuable it was to Chinese authorities. The report did not address whether the relationship was romantic in nature.
Photos posted online in June 2024 showed the duo at a Taipei, Taiwan, bar after a local tech show, where they reportedly quaffed whiskey with other AI bigshots.
They were also seen together in May 2025, exiting a Taipei restaurant following a business dinner with AI suppliers. In a video of the scene, Alice Huang is seen standing a few feet behind the Nvidia boss with a big grin on her face while he banters with local journos.
US authorities have been investigating Megaspeed over suspicions that it helped Chinese firms circumvent US export restrictions and smuggle advanced Nvidia chips into China, the Times reported.
Megaspeed operates as a middleman, purchasing Nvidia chips through the US arm of Inspur, a Chinese server manufacturer, and renting computing power from its Southeast Asian data centers to Chinese companies, according to the Gray Lady.
Inspur’s parent company has been blacklisted by Washington for funneling technology to China’s military, although its American subsidiary remains free of sanctions, according to the Times.
Nvidia is the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, boasting a market capitalization of roughly $5.2 trillion.
Its advanced chips have become the backbone of the artificial intelligence boom, giving Huang enormous clout in Silicon Valley and Washington as the US races to maintain its technological edge over China. The feds have banned Nvidia from selling its best chips to Chinese companies for years.
Jensen Huang is married to Lori Mills Huang, whom he met while studying electrical engineering at Oregon State University.
The couple has two children, Spencer and Madison, both of whom work at Nvidia.
President Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago but chose not to take action, according to the Times, which added that he was wary of disrupting Nvidia’s lucrative chip sales and further complicating trade relations with China.
Jensen Huang has cultivated close ties with Trump, attending a high-dollar donors’ dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Fla., with his wife, personally lobbying the president to allow Nvidia to continue selling chips to Beijing, the Times reported.
Nvidia subsequently donated at least $20 million to Trump’s White House ballroom fund, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by the Times.
The chipmaker also pledged to invest $500 billion in US manufacturing — a top Trump priority — while Huang successfully pressed the administration to loosen restrictions on AI companies and chip exports to China.
Although US officials initially believed Jensen Huang did not know of Alice Huang’s alleged espionage activities, some senior Trump administration officials now doubt that the Nvidia boss “could have remained unaware” of her intelligence-gathering role for Beijing, according to the Times.
It remains unclear whether US intelligence agencies have formally changed their assessment.
Nvidia pushed back against suggestions that Jensen Huang’s dealings with the alleged Chinese intelligence operative were suspicious, describing Megaspeed as a typical regional cloud customer.
“Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected,” an Nvidia spokesperson told The Post.
“Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year.”
The company insisted that its regional cloud customers receive “ordinary business information — not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets” and “zero information relevant to national security.”
Nvidia also said it regularly receives government updates about potentially problematic individuals and companies, adding that it “always” takes appropriate action.
“We’re confident that if the US government believes that any person is a threat to American industry, it would let us know,” the spokesperson said.
The chipmaker also rejected allegations that its technology was being diverted through Megaspeed, saying the claims were “thoroughly investigated and debunked last year.”
It maintained that Beijing has blocked American AI chips rather than sought them through regional cloud providers.
“China opposes vilifying China by peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narrative,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Chang told The Post.
“China is committed to self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and its scientific and technological development has always been grounded in independent innovation.
“We urge the US to stop its malicious efforts to block and suppress China and its groundless smears and slanders, and do more things that are conducive to sci-tech exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.”
The Post has sought comment from the White House and Megaspeed.
