U.S. intelligence agencies have placed a Chinese businesswoman at the centre of an investigation, suspecting that she was acting in Beijing’s interests and had developed a close relationship with the head of technology giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang.
The woman in question is Alice Huang, who, according to a report by The New York Times (NYT), is suspected of involvement in espionage activities on behalf of China. The newspaper emphasised that she is not related to Jensen Huang, despite sharing the same surname.
According to the NYT, U.S. intelligence agencies had been monitoring the Chinese businesswoman and, based on the information they gathered, concluded that she was acting on behalf of Beijing. The newspaper attributed these allegations to unnamed sources familiar with the investigation.
One element that drew the authorities’ attention was communication between Alice Huang and an American citizen whose identity was revealed through a process known in intelligence terminology as “unmasking.” The individual turned out to be Jensen Huang, the head of Nvidia.
However, the report does not provide full details about the nature of their relationship, nor does it present publicly available evidence that conclusively confirms the espionage suspicions.
Alice Huang did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment on the allegations.
She has links to Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company. Following publication of the report, the company’s current executives told the NYT that they had taken the allegations seriously and had hired external legal advisers to conduct an internal investigation.
The case comes amid ongoing tensions between the United States and China over technology, artificial intelligence and export controls on advanced chips — sectors in which Nvidia plays a key role in the global market.
