US intelligence agencies identified Alice Huang, a senior executive at Singapore‑based Megaspeed, as a China intelligence asset after she allegedly passed advanced Nvidia AI chips and sensitive information to Beijing. This came after a briefing to President Trump in January 2024.
Megaspeed, a data‑centre company, has been under scrutiny by the US Commerce Department since late 2023 for facilitating China’s acquisition of Nvidia chips that were barred under export restrictions.
Trump was briefed on the allegations roughly a year ago but chose not to act, reportedly to avoid disrupting Nvidia’s lucrative business that underpins parts of the U.S. economy and to maintain trade ties with China.
Nvidia’s spokesperson John Rizzo dismissed the claims, saying that Huang’s interactions with the CEO were routine business meetings that did not involve trade secrets, and that the company had already investigated Megaspeed without finding evidence of illicit chip transfers.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington denied the espionage allegations, calling them "groundless smears" and noting that China has blocked US AI chips entering the country to protect its own industry.
The U.S. government is now weighing whether to reinstate tighter export controls on Nvidia chips, a move that could limit the company’s ability to supply advanced processors to Chinese data‑centre operators like Megaspeed.