China rejects report that Nvidia's Jensen Huang was targeted by alleged spy
Beijing calls a New York Times report "groundless speculation" as Singapore police say their inquiry into data centre firm Megaspeed continues.
China on Friday dismissed as "groundless speculation" a New York Times report that US intelligence agencies believe Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was targeted by an alleged Chinese spy linked to a Singapore-based data centre company, The Hindu, CNA and the South China Morning Post reported.
"The report in question is based on groundless speculation and is nothing more than an attempt to smear China," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing, according to CNA and The Hindu. The Post's version of his remarks said the report was "purely aimed at smearing and slandering China".
The Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that US officials had concluded Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was passing information to Beijing. She is not related to the Nvidia chief. According to The Guardian, US officials first began watching her over suspicions she was smuggling Nvidia chips to China in breach of US export restrictions, and later decided she was acting as a Chinese intelligence asset passing on commercial information.
The outlets describe the alleged contact differently. The Guardian and The Hindu said she developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. The Post said she approached him and tried to build a close business relationship. The Guardian called her an executive at Megaspeed, while CNA described her as a former executive. The Hindu said the Times reported that President Donald Trump was briefed on the findings roughly a year ago and chose not to act. The Guardian reported that White House officials were alarmed by her access because of Huang's close ties to Trump.
Huang told Bloomberg News his company's dealings with Megaspeed were "normal and not unusual", CNA reported. He said Nvidia had checked that Megaspeed did not illegally divert its AI chips to China. "We've studied all their deployments of our GPUs and counted every one," he said, adding that the executive had since left the company.
An Nvidia spokesperson told AFP that regional cloud customers "receive ordinary business information" and "zero information relevant to national security", The Hindu reported. The spokesperson said claims that Megaspeed was smuggling chips to China "were thoroughly investigated and debunked last year". AFP said a phone number on Megaspeed's website led to a residential line, where the person who answered said they did not know the company.
The Singapore Police Force told CNA its investigations into Megaspeed were ongoing and it could not comment further. "Singapore does not implement unilateral export controls imposed by foreign jurisdictions," police said, adding that Singapore did not condone businesses using their link to the country to get around other nations' controls.
Police said that between February 2025 and July 2026, Singapore charged four individuals and four companies with defrauding server suppliers. The charges carry jail terms of up to 20 years each.
Sources: The Guardian, Nvidia CEO reportedly targeted by an alleged Chinese spy; CNA, Nvidia's Huang says dealings with firm in US spy probe were 'normal' as China denies allegations; South China Morning Post, China dismisses US report of suspected spy targeting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as ‘groundless’; The Hindu, China denies spying on Nvidia's Jensen Huang.
