Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and alleged Chinese spy scandal, Digi Mart USA News: A report by the news portal The Information says the relationship between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and an alleged Chinese spy has had far-reaching consequences. According to the report, which cites two acquaintances of the woman, she helped move AI high-performance processors worth $7.5 billion (about 6.7 billion euros) to China.
The Information reported on Tuesday that Alice Huang, who is not related to Jensen Huang, built a network of companies in China and Singapore with her husband and sister to circumvent U.S. export restrictions.
A central role is played by Shanghai Century Litong, a company founded only in June 2023, which reportedly obtained preferred Nvidia partner status within a few months.
That status allowed Century Litong to secure priority access to chips. The report says around 240,000 AI processors, labeled H100, H200 and A100, reached China through this route.
These semiconductors are older and scaled-down variants of Nvidia’s top models, originally developed for delivery to the People’s Republic of China.
The U.S. government has continuously tightened export restrictions in recent years to slow China’s technological and military rise.
The H200 chip may now be delivered there again, but under strict conditions. Century Litong also rents data centers and operates its own facilities, the report added.
Some of the computers used there reportedly run on Nvidia chips that fall under U.S. sanctions.
Nevertheless, Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Tencent, as well as some AI developers, reportedly gained access to these servers. Alice Huang’s corporate network also includes Megaspeed, a company registered in Singapore that is suspected of having smuggled chips from Southeast Asia into China.
Neither Nvidia nor Century Litong and Megaspeed have commented on the new allegations so far. Nvidia’s stock fell a further 5.5 percent on Tuesday to $168.80, its lowest level since March, down from $206.69 a week earlier.
In response to the affair becoming known, Nvidia has launched an internal investigation. The FBI is also looking into the matter, focusing on whether the 63-year-old Nvidia CEO became the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
Huang acknowledged marital infidelity to employees without giving details.
Separately, investors filed a class action lawsuit against Nvidia and Jensen Huang. They allege that shareholders were misled by the concealment of Huang’s ties to the alleged spy, and that it was not disclosed that the matter raises national security concerns that could threaten Nvidia’s reputation and business prospects.
According to a report by The New York Times, U.S. President Trump had been informed a year earlier about Huang’s close relationship with a woman whom U.S.
security agencies assessed had been recruited by Chinese intelligence. Surveillance of the woman reportedly determined that she had passed information to Beijing.
According to the report, Trump decided to take no action in the matter, possibly to avoid undermining Nvidia’s success and complicating trade relations with Beijing, the Times speculated. Because of Huang’s good relationship with Trump, there was also concern that Trump’s views on key political issues concerning China could have been passed on.
Amid the new developments, Trump defended Huang, who is considered one of the U.S. president’s closest allies in Silicon Valley.
He said he finds it credible that the Nvidia CEO knew nothing about Alice Huang’s espionage activities. Trump described Nvidia CEO Huang as “a fine person” who had served the United States well.
Meanwhile, Democrats, following their victory in the U.S. midterm elections, are increasing pressure on Trump.
Senator Chris Coons announced an investigation on X. “We need answers on what the relationship is between the AI billionaires and the Trump administration.” It must also be clarified whether U.S.
national security interests were violated.
