An alleged spy, a reported romantic relationship, and AI chips: the memo that put Jensen Huang and Nvidia on the U.S. national security radar.
What You Need to Know
- Alleged Chinese spy and romance with Nvidia’s CEO. A Trump administration memo identified Alice Huang as an agent of the MSS, China’s main intelligence agency. According to intelligence cited in the document, she reportedly had a romantic relationship with Jensen Huang. Despite sharing the same last name, the two are not related.
- The target was Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips. Alice was allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on Jensen and potentially persuade Nvidia to lobby for the easing of U.S. export restrictions on its most advanced processors to China.
- Congress demands answers as shares plunge. Three influential Republicans have requested a closed-door briefing with Jensen by November 18. On November 9, Nvidia shares fell nearly 7.5%, wiping out about $335 billion in market value.
In a report published Nov. 7, The New York Times revealed that a memo circulated among Trump administration policymakers this spring. It cited intelligence about Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman close to Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. The two are not related; they simply share the same last name.
According to the document, Alice is allegedly a spy for the Ministry of State Security (MSS), Beijing’s top espionage agency. The memo also claimed she and Jensen had a romantic relationship.
What Beijing Allegedly Wanted
According to the report, Alice was reportedly recruited to gather information on Jensen. Her objectives, according to the memo, were to:
- gain a better understanding of U.S. AI chips;
- potentially push Nvidia to lobby for the release of its most advanced processors in China.
Washington bans the export of certain advanced AI chips to China. Jensen, an influential Trump ally, argues for selling U.S. processors to the Chinese market. In his view, the restrictions help local competitors, especially Huawei, and shrink America’s share of China’s tech industry.
Peter Mattis, a former CIA counterintelligence analyst, said technology has become “the main battleground for economic dominance.” He called Jensen “someone you’d want to influence because he holds a lot of power and sits at the center of a technology that is shaping the world.”
The Company Under Scrutiny
Alice is a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. She was linked to multibillion-dollar purchases of advanced Nvidia chips starting in 2024. Around that time, she was photographed with Jensen Huang at a bar in Taipei.
Megaspeed builds data centers in Southeast Asia and leases its computing capacity to Alibaba, which uses it to run AI systems.
In practice, this model could give China indirect access to Nvidia chips. U.S. officials are investigating whether the company helped Beijing obtain processors that are banned from export.
The investor network tied to Alice is concentrated in Shanghai and Zhejiang and has links to China’s military sector. According to The New York Times, the network held a stake in a cybersecurity subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group (CETC), a state-owned military technology conglomerate.
Reactions and Next Steps
U.S. authorities have reportedly monitored Alice electronically for at least a year. According to the Times, Trump was briefed last year but did not act.
In a Nov. 4 letter, Republican lawmakers Brian Mast, John Moolenaar, and Rick Crawford asked Jensen for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18. They want to know “Nvidia’s security protocols against espionage by foreign adversaries,” and said: “It is vital that Congress determine the extent to which U.S. national security has been put at risk.”
Where Each Side Stands
- Nvidia: Jensen speaks with “thousands of customer executives every year.” Cloud customers in Asia receive only standard commercial information, not sensitive secrets. The interactions “were not unusual.”
- Chinese Embassy: Called the report “baseless” and “nothing more than smears against China.”
- Alice Huang: Did not respond to attempts to reach her.
- White House and CIA: Declined to comment.
Background: What Is the MSS?
Founded in 1983, the MSS gained influence under Xi Jinping, in power since 2012, and after the 2015 U.S.-China agreement to curb cyber operations. Since then, the agency has taken on more espionage activity.
- Today, it is one of the largest intelligence services in the world. A British intelligence estimate puts its workforce in the hundreds of thousands.
- Since at least 2023, it has used artificial intelligence to build target profiles, identify contact networks, and map vulnerabilities.
- Its head, Chen Yixin, is a native of Zhejiang, where Alice operates, and served under Xi when Xi governed the province. In a September essay, he argued that China should control AI to protect political stability and compete militarily with the U.S.
Market Impact
On Nov. 9, Nvidia shares fell nearly 7.5% at the opening bell in New York, following the announcement of an independent investigation into the allegations involving Jensen Huang. The decline erased roughly $335 billion in market value, according to The Guardian.