Jensen Huang, was he in a romantic relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy···New facts revealed in a memo from U.S. intelligence - 경향신문
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Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), and Alice Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese government spy, sit side by side at a bar in Taipei in 2024. The company Netsunder, which posted this photo on social networking services (SNS), introduced Alice Huang as “Megaspeed Chair Alice Wong”. Screenshot of a Netsunder LinkedIn post. Yonhap News file photo
It has been reported that U.S. intelligence authorities concluded that Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), was in a romantic relationship with a female businessperson suspected of being recruited by Chinese intelligence services. As allegations emerged that China approached a woman close to CEO Huang to obtain information related to artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, it newly came to light that an intelligence memo reflecting the assessment of U.S. authorities even mentioned their private relationship.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 7th (local time), citing multiple sources, that a memo prepared by U.S. officials based on intelligence obtained by agencies earlier this year included the romantic relationship between CEO Huang and Alice Huang. Alice Huang is a Chinese national who worked as an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company.
U.S. intelligence authorities judge that Alice Huang was recruited by the Ministry of State Security (MSS), a core Chinese intelligence agency, and collected information about CEO Huang. The claim is that Chinese intelligence sought to obtain information related to the U.S. AI semiconductor industry through Alice Huang and to exert influence so that Nvidia would supply cutting-edge chips to China.
According to the FT, the memo was shared with a small number of senior U.S. government officials just before U.S. President Donald Trump visited China in May for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The information in the memo was said to be based on intelligence obtained earlier this year.
This report follows coverage by the New York Times (NYT) of alleged Chinese collection of information related to Nvidia. The NYT reported last month that U.S. intelligence authorities had identified Alice Huang as a source for the Chinese Ministry of State Security and that she collected information targeting CEO Jensen Huang. In its latest report, the FT added that U.S. officials assessed the two as being in a romantic relationship.
Megaspeed, where Alice Huang worked, is a Singapore company that operates data centers by purchasing Nvidia AI chips. U.S. authorities have also investigated whether Megaspeed evaded U.S. export controls to pass advanced Nvidia chips to China. Nvidia has said that its own review found no evidence of related illegal conduct.
In June 2024, a photo also surfaced showing Jensen Huang and Alice Huang at a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, together with other executives in the AI industry. However, neither the released photo nor the fact of professional contact between the two by itself confirms a romantic relationship or any leak of information.
Nvidia declined to comment to the FT on the relationship between the two and on the U.S. government memo. However, when the related allegations were previously raised, the company said that CEO Huang meets thousands of client executives each year and characterized his contact with Alice Huang as part of routine business relations. The company has also said that the information it provides to cloud customers in Asia is ordinary business information, not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets or information related to national security.
The White House and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) did not respond to requests by the FT for comment. The FT also reported that it was unable to reach Alice Huang.
The U.S. Congress is also looking into the relationship between CEO Huang and Alice Huang. According to Reuters, on the 5th three Republican lawmakers who chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Select Committee on China, and the House Intelligence Committee asked CEO Huang to attend a closed briefing on the 18th and to explain the circumstances of his contacts with Alice Huang and Nvidia security procedures to prevent infiltration by foreign intelligence services.
