"From Drinks to Business Dinners": Who Is the Suspicious Chinese Woman Who Followed Jensen Huang?

U.S. Intelligence Agencies Suspect Chinese Businesswoman of Intelligence-Gathering Activities
Trump Also Received Briefing on the Matter but Took No Action

A foreign media report says that Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the world's largest artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company, was targeted for information gathering by a person suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence. U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly concluded that the person had developed a close relationship with Huang and passed information to China. The matter has sparked controversy because U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly took no significant action after receiving a briefing on the issue.

A photo and eyewitness accounts showing the two actually meeting have also emerged. In June 2024, Alice Huang was spotted sitting next to Jensen Huang and drinking with representatives from several AI companies at a gathering in Taipei, Taiwan. NetThunder LinkedIn post

On October 29 (local time), The New York Times (NYT), citing multiple sources briefed on classified intelligence reports, reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had identified Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang (Chinese name: Huang Le) as having been involved in intelligence-gathering activities for the Chinese government. Huang is a former senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. She previously worked as a broadcast journalist in China and is said to have since built a career in finance and in investment sectors related to semiconductors and AI.

Megaspeed buys Nvidia AI semiconductors, builds data centers, and provides the resulting computing capacity to Chinese companies and others. Nvidia has also listed Megaspeed as one of its cloud partners. Concerns arose after questions were raised about whether Megaspeed may have been used to circumvent U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to China.

Since 2024, U.S. authorities have been investigating whether Megaspeed illegally brought into China advanced Nvidia AI semiconductors whose export to China is restricted. Suspicions intensified after authorities found that some of the equipment purchased by the company had been kept packaged rather than installed in data centers. Megaspeed's Malaysian affiliate reportedly purchased at least $4.8 billion worth of AI equipment containing Nvidia semiconductors between June 2024 and February 2026, an unusually large amount for a company of its relatively small size.

U.S. Authorities Monitor Possible Leak of Advanced AI Semiconductor Information

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. AP-Yonhap News.

During electronic surveillance of Alice Huang, U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly detected that she was in contact with a prominent American. In the course of subsequent intelligence gathering, they went through an "unmasking" procedure to identify an American citizen whose identity had been kept confidential, and reportedly determined that the person was CEO Jensen Huang.

Photos and eyewitness accounts have also emerged showing the two meeting in person. In June 2024, Alice Huang was spotted sitting next to Jensen Huang and drinking with executives from several AI companies at a gathering in Taipei, Taiwan. She reportedly also attended a business dinner in May 2025 with other AI industry figures and the CEO.

Alice Huang reportedly flaunted her relationship with Jensen Huang by posting photos of them together on her social media accounts and used the images to help attract investment. U.S. intelligence agencies are said to have been concerned that, through these contacts, Alice Huang may have obtained information about Nvidia's business strategy and advanced semiconductors, as well as developments in U.S.-China semiconductor policy that the CEO discussed with the Trump Administration.

Jensen Huang has maintained a close relationship with President Trump and has wielded influence over U.S. policy on AI semiconductor exports to China. This has prompted concerns that China may have sought to gain indirect insight into U.S. AI industrial policy and its strategy toward China through contacts with the CEO.

Trump Took No Action After Receiving Briefing a Year Ago

President Trump's response has drawn even greater controversy. According to the NYT, Trump was briefed on the matter by U.S. intelligence agencies about a year ago but took no further action. Some analysts say he may have been concerned that action could disrupt Nvidia's semiconductor sales, which have an enormous impact on the U.S. economy and stock market, or further complicate trade relations with China.

U.S. President Donald Trump. AP-Yonhap News.

U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly concluded at the time that Jensen Huang was likely unaware of Alice Huang's information-gathering activities. However, the NYT reported that some senior officials in the Trump Administration have questioned whether the CEO was completely unaware of the circumstances. U.S. authorities are also said not to have given Huang a "defensive briefing," which would warn an American targeted by a foreign intelligence agency of the risk. One possible consideration was that warning the target of intelligence gathering could expose ongoing surveillance operations. The specific intelligence agency that surveilled Alice Huang and the information she passed to China have not been confirmed. Nor has it been established that Jensen Huang was involved in any illegal intelligence-gathering activities.

Nvidia Rebuts Allegations, Calling Meetings "Routine Customer Engagements"

Nvidia strongly rejected the allegations. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said that Jensen Huang's meetings with Alice Huang were routine business contacts with an executive of a customer company, adding that the CEO speaks with thousands of customer representatives every year. He also said that customers are provided only with general business information and that sensitive trade secrets or information related to national security are not shared.

In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Jensen Huang also explained that Nvidia's dealings with Megaspeed were normal and unremarkable. He said the company had verified that Megaspeed had not illegally diverted Nvidia semiconductors to China and had checked the deployment status of all graphics processing units (GPUs) supplied to the company.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States dismissed the allegations as baseless smears. Megaspeed said it was taking the matter very seriously, had retained outside legal experts to conduct an internal investigation, and would cooperate with the U.S. government's investigation. The White House, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Security Agency (NSA) declined to comment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.