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The U.S. Commerce Department is delaying efforts to blacklist a company linked to an alleged Chinese spy who allegedly had an affair with Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, despite concerns it was smuggling advanced chips into China.
Several U.S. government agencies have been pushing for Singapore-based Megaspeed to be included on the so-called entity list of China-linked groups that allegedly pose national security risks, according to several people familiar with the deliberations.
But the Commerce Department, which chairs the committee overseeing the list, has sought over the past two months to delay new listings, one of the sources said. Ministry officials reached out to their counterparts and stressed that they needed more information on some companies included in the package, the source said.
It was unclear whether Megaspeed was among the companies, but the delay meant it remains off the entity list, which is one of the U.S. government’s most powerful tools to prevent U.S. companies from selling technology to foreign companies.
The Departments of State, Energy and Treasury, as well as the Pentagon, were among the agencies pushing for Megaspeed’s inclusion on the list, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. companies need licenses from the Commerce Department to export technology to companies on the Entity List, part of Washington’s attempt to hamper Chinese efforts to modernize its military.
The United States has been investigating for more than a year whether Megaspeed, a Singapore-based cloud provider, was smuggling Nvidia chips into China.
Questions about why the group has still not been included on the entity list have resurfaced in recent days following the announcement of Jensen Huang’s affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive suspected of spying for China.
The FT reported last week that President Donald Trump was briefed in May on a top-secret government memo that claimed Huang was romantically involved with the Megaspeed executive.
The Commerce Department chairs the interagency process that decides which groups will be placed on the list. The Pentagon, State Department and Energy Department are also part of the “end-user review committee” that votes on additions to the list. Although the Treasury Department is not a formal member, it can participate in the deliberations.
“It’s mind-boggling that the trade knew months ago that Megaspeed was run by a Chinese spy but did nothing to stop it from buying $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips,” said Chris McGuire, a former top U.S. government export control official. “I can’t think of a single good reason for this inaction.”
McGuire added that Commerce should take steps to prevent any unreliable company such as Megaspeed from purchasing AI chips without an export license, which he said is required by existing export control rules.
The Pentagon referred questions to the Commerce Department, which said it does not comment on internal discussions regarding the entity list. The Energy Department referred questions to the White House, which declined to comment. The Treasury Department declined to comment. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Although the Commerce Department did not comment on Megaspeed, it said it had “implemented aggressive action across the board, including on advanced chip smuggling” and conducted six investigations that resulted in “criminal charges against 17 defendants involving billions of dollars of smuggled chips.”
Megaspeed was spun off from Chinese gaming group 7Road in 2023. Operating as a so-called Nvidia Cloud Partner, it is authorized to purchase GPUs from the American chipmaker. It provides IT services through primarily leased facilities throughout Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Indonesia.
Alice Huang was among several Chinese nationals listed as directors of the company until November 2023, according to company filings in Singapore.
Megaspeed’s owner is listed as another Singaporean company, Swiftdata, established in late 2023, just before Huang stepped down as director. Its sole director is Tan Yong Pong, a Singaporean, who is also the sole director of Megaspeed. Tan did not respond to requests for comment.
Singapore Police have been investigating Megaspeed since October 2025. It continues to exist and operate in Singapore, although it is under intense regulatory scrutiny.
Following reports of alleged Nvidia chip smuggling, international data center operators have terminated or re-evaluated leases with Megaspeed to avoid secondary sanctions, forcing it to relocate or end hardware deployments.
Nvidia has also halted sales to the company for more than a year, according to several people familiar with the matter and a company statement.
“While Megaspeed is not on the Entity List or the subject of a ‘newsletter’ letter, we placed Megaspeed on our block list in June 2025, prohibiting any further sales or shipments,” a spokesperson said. “This voluntary blockage remains in place.”
An informed letter is a notification from the Department of Commerce that it intends to require companies to apply for export licenses.
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