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The US government believes Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang was romantically involved with a Chinese woman recruited to spy for China’s main intelligence agency, according to people familiar with the matter.
Earlier this year, U.S. officials wrote a memo, based on information obtained by U.S. intelligence, that Huang had been romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a customer of the U.S. chip group based in Singapore, people familiar with the memo said.
The U.S. intelligence community believes that Alice Huang was recruited as a spy by the intelligence department of China’s Ministry of State Security, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The memo was shared with a small group of senior U.S. government officials shortly before President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping, according to sources familiar with the matter. The White House and the CIA declined to comment.
Photographs and videos showing Huang with the Megaspeed executive circulated on social media.
Nvidia declined to comment on the government memo and claims that its chief executive had an intimate relationship with Alice Huang. The company previously said it meets with “thousands of client executives each year.”
Alice Huang could not be reached for comment. Megaspeed has come under close scrutiny by the United States for allegedly smuggling advanced Nvidia chips into China in violation of U.S. export controls. Nvidia previously launched an internal investigation into the allegations, but found there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
The memo’s revelation comes a day after senior Republican lawmakers asked Nvidia’s CEO to appear privately before the House China, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees to answer questions about a New York Times report that said U.S. intelligence had concluded he was the target of a Chinese spying operation. They also wanted to ask Huang about the security protocols the company has in place.
Megaspeed spun off from a Chinese gaming company in 2023. The U.S. government has been investigating companies, particularly in Southeast Asia, on suspicion of smuggling advanced chips into China.
Attention has intensified as competition between the United States and China in the field of AI has intensified. The United States is increasingly concerned about China’s ability to obtain advanced chips that would accelerate its military modernization.
U.S. national security officials have privately expressed frustration with Huang, who personally lobbied Trump earlier this year to allow Nvidia to export the H200 chip to customers in China.
Jensen Huang has held several meetings with Trump since the president began his second term in 2025.
When Trump traveled to China in May for a summit with Xi, Huang was not among the leaders who left Washington aboard Air Force One with the president.
After Trump learned he wasn’t part of the group, he called Nvidia’s CEO, who flew to Alaska where he boarded the presidential plane during a layover. In September, he attended the state dinner hosted by Trump for Xi during his visit to the United States.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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