U.S. investigated Chinese spy plot aimed at Nvidia CEO

U.S. intelligence agencies investigated whether a senior executive at Singapore AI cloud firm Megaspeed could have been a Chinese spy after she became close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to anonymous sources cited by the New York Times. The executive, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was reportedly photographed with multiple people hanging out with Huang during business dinners in the Singapore region. Nvidia said the CEO's interactions with her were not unusual and were part of ordinary customer meetings.

U.S. surveillance of Alice Huang

U.S. intelligence agencies had reportedly surveilled Alice Huang for about a year to learn more about her ties with China. The concern was that she had grown so close to Jensen Huang that she could have been gathering information about Nvidia's plans and the CEO's efforts to convince the Trump Administration to allow Nvidia to ship more advanced technology to China. Anonymous sources told the Times about the possible spy plot. The executive worked for Megaspeed, the Singapore AI cloud firm that was accused of illegally selling Nvidia chips to China.

Nvidia denies unusual relationship

An Nvidia spokesperson denied the idea that the relationship was unusual, telling TechCrunch that the CEO's relationship with the Megaspeed executive was the same as with any other regional customer. The spokesperson said Jensen's interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected, and that meetings with customers are part of a CEO's job. The spokesperson also said Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year. Nvidia added that regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets, and zero information relevant to national security.

Commerce Department probe of Megaspeed

In 2025, the Times reported that the Commerce Department had investigated Megaspeed over concerns that it was helping Chinese companies side-step AI chip export regulations by reselling restricted chips to them. Alice Huang was said to be a top executive for the firm at the time. The report said the firm was accused of illegally selling Nvidia chips to China.

Sources: TechCrunch