U.S. intelligence officials monitored a Singapore-based technology executive over suspicions that she operated as a Chinese intelligence asset while cultivating a close relationship with Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, according to a report published Thursday by The New York Times.
Surveillance focused on Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, who served as a senior leader at Megaspeed, a Singapore data center firm and regional Nvidia customer. Intelligence agencies concluded that she was covertly gathering and transmitting information to Beijing, the Times reported, citing individuals briefed on classified findings. Alice Huang is not related to Jensen Huang.
Megaspeed has supplied artificial intelligence computing resources to Chinese corporations, including Alibaba. Federal authorities previously investigated the firm on suspicion of funneling restricted Nvidia processors to China by acquiring them through the American branch of Chinese server vendor Inspur, the Times reported. Inspur’s parent entity is blacklisted by Washington, but its U.S. unit remains unsanctioned.
Intelligence surveillance picked up communications with Jensen Huang, whose company is valued at approximately $5.2 trillion and manufactures the semiconductors driving the global AI market. Electronic intercepts showed Alice Huang socializing with the executive, including at a Taipei bar in June 2024 and leaving a dinner with suppliers there in May 2025, the New York Post reported.
White House Inaction and Tech Influence
Intelligence agencies found no initial evidence indicating the Nvidia chief executive was aware of Alice Huang’s alleged espionage role, and the investigation could not establish what information she delivered to China, the Times reported. However, some senior Trump administration officials later questioned whether Huang could have remained entirely unaware, though agencies have not formally altered their conclusions.
President Donald Trump received a briefing on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago but took no action, according to the report. Intelligence agencies did not deliver a defensive briefing—a typical precautionary notification provided to Americans targeted by foreign spies. The Times reported Trump hesitated out of concern over impeding Nvidia’s commercial chip business or inflaming trade frictions with Beijing.
The Nvidia CEO has nurtured significant access to the White House, meeting Trump at state dinners and AI summits while advocating for relaxed export rules on chips shipped abroad, CNBC reported. Nvidia contributed at least $20 million to Trump’s White House ballroom fund and committed $500 billion to domestic manufacturing investments, according to the Times.
Company Denials and International Reaction
Nvidia forcefully rejected claims of impropriety, stating that its chief executive regularly confers with thousands of corporate clients.
“Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year,” a company spokesperson told The Post, adding that regional cloud clients receive “ordinary business information — not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets” and “zero information relevant to national security.”
The company also noted that prior claims Megaspeed skirted export restrictions were “thoroughly investigated and debunked last year,” CNBC reported. Nvidia added that it relies on federal agencies to alert it to national security risks and had not been warned about Alice Huang.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang criticized the allegations, telling The Post that Beijing “opposes vilifying China by peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narrative.”
U.S. officials have not announced whether they intend to update export enforcement actions or issue formal advisories concerning Megaspeed, leaving the extent of any compromised data unclear.
