China’s Top Spy Agency Recruited Woman Who Targeted Jensen Huang

U.S. officials, citing surveillance, assessed that Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman with access to senior technology executives, worked for China’s Ministry of State Security and was tasked with gathering information on Nvidia chief Jensen Huang. The operation appears aimed at learning about American artificial-intelligence chips and possibly influencing Nvidia’s efforts to expand sales in China. Alice Huang’s company, Megaspeed, began spending billions on advanced chips in 2024, while a network of companies tied to Shanghai and Zhejiang built data centers in Southeast Asia and rented computing capacity to Alibaba. That arrangement could give Chinese firms access to Nvidia chips that U.S. export rules bar Nvidia from selling directly to China. The network also had an investment connection to a military-linked Chinese technology group.

The case draws attention to Beijing’s growing focus on technology espionage and the power of the Ministry of State Security, which has expanded under Xi Jinping. Jensen Huang has publicly argued for U.S. chip sales to China, and in 2025 helped persuade President Trump to permit some sales, though he has also said China should not receive Nvidia’s most advanced chips. Nvidia says his meetings with Alice Huang were routine and that the company does not share classified information with customers; China’s embassy rejects the allegations. Republican leaders of three House committees have requested a closed-door briefing with Jensen Huang about the relationship, which U.S. agencies had monitored for at least a year.