Who is Alice Huang? Chinese businesswoman at centre of Nvidia spy scandal

Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman accused by US intelligence agencies of working for Beijing, has emerged at the centre of a major controversy involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. According to a report by The New York Times, China's Ministry of State Security recruited Alice Huang to gather intelligence on the chipmaker's chief executive and potentially influence the company's decisions on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to China.The allegations have prompted Nvidia's board to launch an independent investigation after reports that Jensen Huang, 63, had developed a close relationship with the businesswoman. The Nvidia chief has separately admitted to being unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family and colleagues. However, the company has maintained that it has no reason to believe its trade secrets or US national security were compromised.From television reporter to a top executive at MegaspeedAlice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen who previously worked as a television reporter in China before moving into the technology and business sector. She eventually became a senior executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a data centre company that provides AI computing infrastructure to businesses, including major Chinese technology firms.According to The New York Times, Megaspeed began making multibillion-dollar purchases of advanced Nvidia chips around 2024. The company reportedly bought more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia processors over two years, making it one of the chipmaker's biggest customers in Southeast Asia.Huang is also understood to have developed connections with senior executives across the AI chip industry. She attended technology conferences and private business dinners and had professional links with leaders at companies involved in assembling Nvidia-powered supercomputers.The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies had monitored her communications for at least a year before concluding that she was working for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). A classified intelligence assessment circulated among senior Trump administration officials reportedly identified her as an asset recruited to collect information on Jensen Huang.US intelligence agencies determined that Alice Huang, pictured drinking whiskey and dining with the tech mogul, was secretly passing information to Beijing, the newspaper reported.The report also said electronic surveillance identified Jensen Huang as one of her contacts. The two are not related.Intelligence operation and Megaspeed's China linksAccording to the intelligence assessment cited by The New York Times, Beijing's objective was potentially to gain insights into Nvidia's operations and influence its position on allowing China access to advanced AI processors.Megaspeed's business model has also come under scrutiny. The company reportedly built data centres across Southeast Asia and rented computing power to Chinese technology firms, including Alibaba. This arrangement could potentially provide Chinese companies access to advanced Nvidia chips despite US restrictions on direct sales to China.US authorities have also examined whether Megaspeed helped Chinese companies circumvent export restrictions. The New York Times reported that the network of businesses and investors connected to Huang had links to companies in Shanghai and Zhejiang, as well as financial connections to China's military technology establishment.Alice Huang has not publicly responded to the allegations or multiple requests for comment. Megaspeed has said its current leadership takes the claims seriously and has appointed external legal advisers to conduct an internal investigation.Nvidia, meanwhile, has defended Jensen Huang's interactions with the businesswoman, describing them as normal customer engagements. A company spokesperson said the CEO regularly meets thousands of customer executives and that such interactions do not involve sensitive trade secrets.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.