"What Exactly Is Your Relationship With That Woman?" ... Jensen Huang's Secret Bar Meeting Sparks Uproar in U.S.

Alice Huang believed to have been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security
U.S. Congress: "Explain your interactions and safeguards for technology and information"

The U.S. Congress has asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to explain his relationship with Ellis Huang, a Chinese national and executive at Singaporean data company Megaspeed, which is suspected of spying for China.

A Chinese national, Ellis Huang, a senior executive at Megaspeed who had a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, has been accused of gathering information for the Chinese government. Screenshot from NetThunder's LinkedIn page · Yonhap News

On November 5, U.S. media outlet Axios and others reported that House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, a Republican known for his hard-line stance toward China; Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar; and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford had sent a joint letter to Huang asking him to attend a closed-door congressional briefing on November 18. The three committee chairmen asked Huang to explain his interactions with Ellis Huang and Nvidia's security measures to protect its technology and information from foreign adversaries. They stressed that they "need to determine the extent to which national security has been put at risk."

The New York Times (NYT) previously reported that Ellis Huang worked for China's Ministry of State Security, gathering information about U.S. AI chips and seeking information on Jensen Huang to persuade Nvidia to supply cutting-edge chips to China. Ellis Huang had relationships with Jensen Huang and other top executives in the AI chip industry, including executives at Gigabyte, one of Nvidia's major supercomputer assembly partners. She also attended industry conferences and private dinners with executives.

In June 2024, Ellis Huang was with Jensen Huang when he met with representatives of major Asian customers at a bar in Taipei, Taiwan. The two were also spotted together at a restaurant in May 2025. After a business dinner, Jensen Huang left the restaurant and spoke with local reporters while Ellis Huang was seen waiting behind him.

NYT noted that President Trump had been briefed on the information about a year earlier but appeared to have taken no action, given the significant impact Nvidia's chip sales have on the U.S. economy and stock market and the risk of further worsening trade relations with China.

Megaspeed, run by Ellis Huang, began purchasing billions of dollars' worth of advanced AI chips in 2024, prompting many in the industry to question the company's sudden emergence. Megaspeed has built data centers in Southeast Asia and leased computing capacity to Alibaba, China's massive internet company. This has given China an indirect route to access advanced Nvidia chips. The network has financial ties not only to local contacts but also to Chinese military organizations.

Following the allegations, Nvidia said that it was "standard business practice for the CEO to meet with customers" and that it "does not provide customers with sensitive trade secrets or national security-related information." Chinese authorities also stressed that "the related reports are baseless speculation and are purely an attempt to frame and smear China."

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of State Security has reportedly grown to several times the size of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It is said to gather intelligence using human sources, intercept electronic communications, and conduct counterintelligence operations.

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