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Corporate records trace ownership and loan guarantees through several companies. They do not establish that the Shenzhen facility received Nvidia chips or that Huang knowingly enabled unauthorized transfers.
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CNBC’s records-based investigation traces Alice Huang’s investment firm, Shanghai Hexi, through data-center developer Shanghai Century Longteng to Shenzhen Yifeng Technology, whose key customer was Huawei Cloud. Hexi held 27% of the developer from 2021 to 2024 and guaranteed loans for the site; the developer controlled 50.1% of Yifeng. The chain draws scrutiny because Huawei competes with Nvidia, but it does not establish that Yifeng received Nvidia GPUs or that Huang knowingly enabled unauthorized transfers.
Huang co-owned Hexi as early as 2016; her husband, Kang Wei, founded the firm and became a Century Longteng executive in 2022.
A separate trail runs through Huang’s sale of cloud business Osmanthus to 7Road in 2019 and the later spin-off Megaspeed.
The Information reported that Megaspeed facilitated at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese firms, with no evidence tying those shipments to Yifeng.
Alice Huang held an indirect ownership stake in a Shenzhen data center whose key customer was Huawei Cloud, CNBC reported on November 12. The investigation connects her investments to a business serving Nvidia’s Chinese competitor. But a crucial distinction remains: the corporate ties do not establish that the facility received Nvidia chips or that she knowingly enabled unauthorized transfers.
The findings originated with Tesari, a private intelligence firm that shared its research with CNBC. The newsroom translated Chinese corporate records and Mandarin news articles supplied by the firm. Together, those materials trace a chain of shareholdings and financing rather than a direct transaction between Alice Huang and Huawei.
The connection adds a competitive dimension to scrutiny of her relationship with former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. CNBC says he acknowledged an affair, although the precise timing of his relationship with Alice Huang is unknown. Nvidia identified Huawei as a top competitor in 2024, including in AI processors and networking chips.
According to the records described by CNBC, Alice Huang became a co-owner of Shanghai Hexi, a financial firm investing in technology and data centers, as early as 2016. Hexi bought 27% of data-center developer Shanghai Century Longteng in 2021 and retained that holding until 2024.
Century Longteng, in turn, owned a controlling 50.1% stake in Shenzhen Yifeng Technology, the data-center facility. Huawei Cloud was its key customer. Hexi’s involvement also went beyond equity: it guaranteed loans used to finance the Shenzhen site.
CNBC places Alice Huang’s co-ownership of Hexi as early as 2016.
Hexi held this interest from 2021 until 2024.
Century Longteng held a controlling interest in the facility serving Huawei Cloud.
Hexi’s exit did not end every connection between Alice Huang’s network and the facility. Her husband, Kang Wei, founded Hexi and became an executive of Century Longteng in 2022, CNBC reported. He also attended the signing of the company’s Huawei agreement.
CNBC also traced Alice Huang’s earlier cloud business, Osmanthus. She sold it to Chinese gaming company 7Road in 2019, according to the corporate records and media reports compiled by Tesari. A Singapore-based 7Road subsidiary was later spun off as Megaspeed in 2023.
Megaspeed became a key Nvidia customer. CNBC cited The Information’s earlier reporting that it facilitated at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese firms. That shipment allegation concerns Megaspeed’s business; it is not evidence that those chips went to the Shenzhen facility serving Huawei.
The closest hardware link described by CNBC involves Zhejiang Century Huatong Group, Hexi’s business partner through their joint ownership of Century Longteng. That company began purchasing Nvidia chips in 2023. Whether the Shenzhen data center itself acquired Nvidia graphics processors, or GPUs, remains unclear.
Tesari vice president Brian Andersen said the activity warranted a national-security and technology-counterproliferation investigation. His discussion of possible export-control, conspiracy and smuggling charges was conditional: authorities would first need evidence that someone transferred controlled equipment to Huawei without authorization.
Tesari analysts also told CNBC they suspected the complex structure was intended to obscure the relationship, based on their investigative experience. That is their interpretation of the corporate network, not an established finding about its purpose.
Nvidia and Huawei did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. Jensen Huang did not respond to a voicemail, and Alice Huang could not be reached. Hexi had not immediately responded to a message sent outside normal business hours.
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