Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Was Targeted by Chinese Spy Plot

A US intelligence memo revealed that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was the specific target of a spy operation run by China’s Ministry of State Security. The document, which was shared with senior Trump administration officials in the spring, outlines a plot to extract details on American AI chip technology that Beijing has been largely denied.

The central figure in the scheme is Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman who also goes by the name Huang Le. She runs Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center firm. According to sources cited in a New York Times report, the MSS recruited Huang to cultivate a close personal relationship with Jensen. Her role involved collecting information on the executive and the sensitive technology behind his company’s products.

US spy agencies spent at least a year conducting electronic surveillance on Huang before identifying her direct espionage activities. Previous intelligence assessments had labeled her a Chinese asset, but the new memo provides more specific details about her work. Investigators are now trying to determine why Beijing prioritized a spy with such close proximity to Jensen, a key ally of the current administration and a major player in the global AI race.

Huang’s influence extended beyond Nvidia. People familiar with the matter said she maintained ties with other AI chip executives, including leaders at Gigabyte, a major assembler of Nvidia supercomputers. Her network also included connections in Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces, where local officials supported data center development.

Megaspeed made a multibillion-dollar purchase of Nvidia AI chips shortly after Huang was first publicly photographed with Jensen in 2024. Industry observers were surprised by the size of the deal. Since then, Megaspeed has built data centers in Southeast Asia and rented computing power to Alibaba. This arrangement allegedly gave the Chinese company backdoor access to chips it would otherwise be blocked from using.

Financial links between Huang’s network and the Chinese military were also identified. The report noted investments in a cybersecurity subsidiary of a prominent military-technology developer. Former CIA counterintelligence analyst Peter Mattis told the New York Times that the MSS has focused heavily on technology. He described AI supremacy as the key fight for dominance in the economic world. Between 2015 and 2023, the agency expanded its cyber operations and recruitment efforts.

The New York Times first reported the existence of the spy plot on October 29. The memo indicates that the MSS used its ties to Chinese companies to conduct hacking and intelligence gathering. The operation represents a direct attempt by Beijing to penetrate the upper echelons of the American tech industry.