By Basant El-Faramawy
US intelligence agencies believe Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has been targeted by a Chinese intelligence asset who developed a close relationship with him, according to a new report. The alleged operative, Alice Huang, is an executive at the Singapore-based datacenter company Megaspeed and is of no relation to the Nvidia CEO.
Alleged espionage and chip smuggling
American officials had previously suspected Alice Huang of smuggling Nvidia chips to China, prompting surveillance that led to the determination she was passing commercial information to Beijing. During that surveillance, officials concluded she had cultivated a close relationship with Jensen Huang, whose company's powerful chips are a cornerstone of the artificial intelligence boom.
White House concern
The report says White House officials are alarmed by Alice Huang's access to the head of Nvidia, particularly because Jensen Huang has developed a close partnership with the Trump administration as the US government seeks to maintain its lead in AI development. The administration has imposed restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips to China as a national security measure, and Megaspeed was suspected of helping circumvent those controls.
Nvidia response
In a statement, Nvidia said there was nothing out of the ordinary about its CEO's interactions with Alice Huang. Meetings with customer executives are a routine part of a CEO's job, the company said, and such customers receive only ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets or information relevant to national security.
