U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that a top executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia cloud partner, was a Chinese intelligence asset who had cultivated a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to a New York Times report published Thursday, October 29. Why it matters: Huang is the most influential executive in AI hardware and a central figure in U.S. chip policy — and the firm at the center of the case was already under investigation for allegedly moving restricted Nvidia chips to China.
October 29, 2026
What happened
The Times, citing people briefed on classified intelligence findings, reported that U.S. agencies had surveilled Alice Huang — also known as Huang Le, a Chinese citizen and top executive at Megaspeed — for about a year. During that surveillance, officials concluded she was passing commercial information to Chinese intelligence, the report said. Electronic surveillance identified Jensen Huang as one of her contacts through the legal “unmasking” process, and the two had been photographed together at business dinners and a bar in Taipei in June 2024 and May 2025. The Times said it could not determine what information she allegedly passed along or how valuable it was.
The details
Megaspeed is a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia customer that provides AI computing power to Chinese companies, including Alibaba. It was already in Washington’s sights: the Commerce Department investigated it in 2025 over concerns it was helping Chinese companies sidestep AI chip export rules by reselling restricted chips. According to the Times, the broader probe began in late 2024 after a Commerce official visited a Megaspeed data center in Malaysia and noticed Nvidia chips sitting in boxes, raising suspicions they were being sent elsewhere. Alice Huang was briefly listed as Megaspeed’s managing director after the company launched in 2023, though her name was later removed from that role in corporate paperwork. President Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago and chose not to act, the Times reported; Jensen Huang has not been given a defensive briefing, the warning sometimes offered to Americans targeted by foreign spies, and the surveillance reportedly continues.
What Nvidia and Megaspeed say
Nvidia denied that anything improper passed between its CEO and the Megaspeed executive. “Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected. Meetings with customers are part of a C.E.O.’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year,” a spokesperson said, adding that regional cloud customers “receive ordinary business information — not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets — and zero information relevant to national security.” Nvidia also said the allegations that Megaspeed redirected Nvidia chips to China “were thoroughly investigated and debunked last year.” Megaspeed told the Times its current leadership takes the matter “extremely seriously,” has retained outside counsel for an internal investigation, and has notified the U.S. government of its cooperation. The Times reported there was nothing to suggest at the time that Jensen Huang knew of Alice Huang’s alleged role, though some senior White House officials told the paper they doubted he could have been unaware of it.
Why it matters
For Tested Intelligence readers, the honest framing matters: these are classified findings described by anonymous sources, not public charges, and the central allegation — that a Nvidia partner executive doubled as a Beijing asset — has not been proven in any public proceeding. But even as a report, it lands at the weakest joint in the AI boom. Export controls only work if the chips actually stay where they are sold, and the executive Washington most relies on to make that system work was, according to its own intelligence agencies, socializing with a suspected asset of the country those controls target. Expect fresh pressure on Nvidia’s China sales, on cloud partners who resell GPU capacity, and on how the government vets the middlemen of the AI supply chain.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Alice Huang?
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen and top executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia cloud partner. The New York Times reports U.S. intelligence agencies concluded she was an intelligence asset for Beijing — an allegation based on classified surveillance that has not been publicly proven.
Did Jensen Huang know, according to the report?
The Times reported there was nothing to suggest at the time that he knew of her alleged role, and U.S. officials reportedly did not believe he knew. Some senior White House officials told the paper they doubted he could have been unaware of it. Nvidia says his contact with her was ordinary customer business.
What is Megaspeed accused of?
U.S. authorities have investigated Megaspeed over concerns it helped Chinese companies obtain advanced Nvidia AI chips in violation of U.S. export controls. Nvidia says those chip-diversion allegations were investigated and debunked last year.
What did President Trump do with the findings?
According to the Times, Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago and chose not to act.
Sources: The New York Times (via TechCrunch and Gizmodo), New York Post, The Guardian reporting via Globe TV