Alleged Chinese spy developed close ties with NVIDIA CEO
What's the story
Alice Huang, a Chinese national and former executive at Megaspeed, has been accused of espionage. US intelligence agencies had been secretly monitoring her communications and identified NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang as one of her contacts. Megaspeed is a Singapore-based company that provides AI computing power to Chinese firms like Alibaba. The allegations come amid an ongoing investigation into whether Megaspeed helped Chinese companies bypass US export restrictions and illegally import advanced NVIDIA chips into China, The New York Times reported.
Espionage allegations
Claims of espionage backed by US electronic surveillance
Alice Huang has been accused of secretly passing information to Beijing, a claim backed by US electronic surveillance.
The nature and value of the information she allegedly passed on remain unclear.
The report does not confirm if their relationship was romantic in nature or if Jensen Huang was aware of her alleged intelligence activities.
Investigation details
Megaspeed under investigation for helping Chinese companies bypass US restrictions
US authorities are investigating Megaspeed for its alleged role in helping Chinese companies bypass US export restrictions and smuggle advanced NVIDIA chips into China.
The company is said to act as a middleman, buying NVIDIA chips from the US arm of Inspur, a Chinese server manufacturer.
Despite Inspur's parent company being blacklisted by Washington for supplying technology to China's military, its American subsidiary remains unscathed by sanctions.
Company stance
NVIDIA denies wrongdoing on Jensen Huang's part
NVIDIA has denied any wrongdoing on Jensen Huang's part in his dealings with Alice Huang.
The company described Megaspeed as a standard regional cloud customer and said that "meetings with customers are part of a CEO's job."
An NVIDIA spokesperson emphasized that their regional cloud customers only receive "ordinary business information, not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets" and "zero information relevant to national security."
Diplomatic response
China responds to allegations, opposes the narrative
Responding to the allegations, a Chinese embassy spokesperson said, "China opposes vilifying China by peddling the so-called 'Chinese spy' narrative."
The spokesperson added that "China is committed to self-reliance and strength in science and technology," and called on the US to stop its malicious efforts against China.