US Intelligence Suspects Nvidia CEO Had Romantic Relationship with Alleged Chinese Spy

US intelligence officials believe a woman who developed a close relationship with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang was working for Chinese intelligence agencies. The woman was allegedly tasked with gathering information from Huang, according to intelligence officials who briefed the Trump administration. The New York Times reported the development on Friday (November 6).

Citing several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, the report identified the woman as Alice Huang, an executive at Asia-based technology company Megaspeed International. US officials reportedly learned of the allegations through a memorandum containing intelligence surveillance information about her.

According to The New York Times, Alice Huang was working for China’s Ministry of State Security. The Chinese agency was seeking to obtain more information about chips used in US artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The report also said she allegedly tried to persuade Nvidia to sell its most advanced semiconductors to China. However, it remains unclear when or how she first met Jensen Huang.

A separate report published by the Financial Times late Friday said US officials believe Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship with the woman.

The issue has gained renewed attention following this week’s US midterm elections, which are expected to shift control of Congress to the Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans are also examining Huang’s alleged links with the suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

On Thursday, the US House Select Committee on China said in a statement that it had sent a letter requesting Jensen Huang to attend a joint closed-door meeting.

The committee said the letter raised lawmakers’ concerns about Huang’s interactions with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang and the company’s efforts to protect its security systems against intelligence activities by foreign adversaries. The committee publicly described Alice Huang as an individual linked to Chinese intelligence.

Singapore-based Megaspeed is part of Nvidia’s cloud partner network. The company purchases equipment from Nvidia and rents computing capacity to AI developers.

Following the publication of The New York Times report, Nvidia said in a statement that its cloud partners neither lobby the company to change US laws nor advocate for sales of its products to China.

The statement also said that attempts to obtain confidential information through Nvidia’s cloud partners would be unsuccessful, adding that the company does not share confidential information with its customers.

Asked about the Financial Times report concerning the alleged romantic relationship, Nvidia referred to Jensen Huang’s previous remarks. Huang had earlier described his relationship with Alice Huang as a normal business relationship.

The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were contacted for comment on Friday evening but did not immediately respond.

Source: The New York Times