Nvidia defends Jensen Huang’s customer contacts after Chinese intelligence allegations

Nvidia pushed back on October 29 after The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies suspected a customer executive close to Jensen Huang of acting as a Chinese intelligence asset. The company defended those contacts as routine business and said customers receive neither trade secrets nor information relevant to national security.

The executive is Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, of Singapore-based data-center company Megaspeed. She is not related to Nvidia’s chief executive. Megaspeed is a regional cloud customer of Nvidia, the chipmaker said.

An intelligence concern about access

The Guardian, citing the Times’ unnamed sources, reported that American officials assessed Alice Huang as passing commercial information to Beijing. Suspicions that she had helped smuggle Nvidia chips to China prompted surveillance, during which officials identified her close relationship with Jensen Huang.

White House officials were alarmed by Alice Huang’s access to Jensen Huang because of his close relationship with President Donald Trump, according to the Times account described by the Guardian.

The Decoder, also citing the Times, reported that Trump was briefed about a year before publication and took no action. Jensen Huang was not warned, and officials at the time believed he was unaware of the alleged activity.

Nvidia draws a boundary around customer information

A spokesperson told CNBC that Jensen Huang speaks with thousands of customers each year and that his interactions with Megaspeed officials were not unusual.

In its statement to the Times, Nvidia said Megaspeed and similar customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets, and no information relevant to national security. The reported intelligence assessment concerns commercial information reaching Beijing, while Nvidia’s assurance concerns the sensitivity of what customers receive.

Chip suspicions meet a separate rebuttal

The Times report also revisited suspicions that Megaspeed helped companies evade U.S. export controls on Nvidia AI chips barred from shipment to China. Nvidia told CNBC those diversion allegations were “thoroughly investigated and debunked last year.” Its rebuttal addresses chip diversion, not Alice Huang’s alleged intelligence role.

The Decoder, citing the Times, put purchases by a Malaysian sister company at at least $4.8 billion in AI hardware containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026. That purchase total is not proof the equipment was diverted to China.

Megaspeed has announced an internal investigation, according to The Decoder. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy rejected the allegations as “groundless smears and slanders.”