U.S. intelligence officials assessed that Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman with access to senior technology executives, was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather information on Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and potentially influence debates over selling advanced A.I. chips to China. The reported operation has drawn congressional attention: Republican leaders of three House committees have asked Jensen Huang to brief them privately about his interactions with her. U.S. agencies monitored Alice Huang for at least a year, and President Trump was briefed on the relationship in 2025. Nvidia says the meetings were ordinary business contacts and that it does not share classified information with customers; China’s embassy rejects the allegations.
Alice Huang’s company, Megaspeed, began a multibillion-dollar chip-buying effort around 2024 and has built data centers in Southeast Asia that rent computing capacity to Alibaba, potentially giving Chinese firms indirect access to restricted Nvidia products. Her business network has ties to Shanghai officials and an investor in a military-linked Chinese technology group. The account places the case within Beijing’s broader push to lead A.I. by 2030 and the expanded role of the Ministry of State Security under Xi Jinping. Jensen Huang has pressed Washington to allow some chip sales to China, arguing that U.S. firms should compete globally, while also saying China should not receive Nvidia’s most powerful products. The report raises questions about whether his policy advocacy was a target of the alleged intelligence effort.
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