Nvidia CEO Knew Suspected Spy for Decade

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, has known Alice Huang, the woman suspected of being a Chinese spy, for approximately ten years. This new timeline emerges from a report by The Information, which indicates the couple met well before the public revelation of their affair in early 2024. The connection was facilitated by Huang’s husband, Kang Weigh, a corporate raider with whom the Nvidia boss had business dealings during the 2010s.

Huang was purchasing Chinese video game companies during that earlier period. The gaming sector was a primary driver of demand for Nvidia’s high-performance chips before the artificial intelligence boom propelled the company to a market value of $4.5 trillion. Chinese media outlets have suggested that the couple leveraged their long-standing relationship with Huang to secure business contracts. Some social media posts claimed that Kang displayed Alice’s connection to the Nvidia leader to prospective clients.

Alice Huang, who began her career in television and later moved into finance, appears to have lacked direct experience in the AI sector prior to 2023. She joined Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center firm, around that time. Megaspeed conducted billions of dollars in business with Nvidia. The firm has faced accusations of smuggling high-end chips to China in violation of US export bans, with 50,000 units reportedly missing during a single audit. Megaspeed maintains that it follows all regulations and denies wrongdoing.

Before her role at Megaspeed, Alice served as a senior executive and equity partner at Shanghai Hexi Investment. That firm has a history of regulatory penalties. In 2018, Kang’s firm was fined $2.6 million, and Kang personally received a $60,000 fine for disclosure violations and illegal trading during a restricted period linked to the takeover of Huiqiu Technology. A secret memo from the State Department, dated a few months ago, states that US intelligence agencies concluded Alice was funneling information to China’s Ministry of State Security.

Huang admitted on Sunday that he cheated on his wife of 40 years. He is currently under investigation by both the FBI and Nvidia. Alice has posted photos of herself and Jensen on WeChat, often showing them dining at trendy restaurants. The New York Times reported that the pair traveled together over the past three years, visiting Shanghai, Nvidia’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, a golf resort south of San Jose, and Taiwan. An Nvidia China sales employee stated that Alice attended the company’s annual gathering for local customers.

People familiar with Alice’s life told The Information that she claimed Jensen celebrated her birthday annually with dinners or gifts. Her LinkedIn biography lists previous reporting roles at CCTV, China’s national broadcaster, and Hunan TV. Caixin, a Chinese financial publication, notes that she likely studied at Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Communication about two decades ago. The Chinese embassy has strongly denied claims that Alice was acting as a spy.

The next phase of scrutiny involves the ongoing probes by the FBI and Nvidia. These investigations will determine the extent of the information sharing and the business arrangements between the executives and the suspected agent. The outcome will influence Nvidia’s internal policies and its relationship with Chinese partners. The findings may also shape future US export controls on AI chips.