Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Was Reportedly Targeted in a Suspected Chinese Spy Operation. Trump Chose Not to Act.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that a Chinese business executive with access to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was collecting information for Beijing, exposing concerns about foreign intelligence operations surrounding America's artificial intelligence industry.

President Donald Trump was briefed on the findings roughly a year ago but chose not to act, according to The New York Times, which cited people familiar with classified surveillance. Jensen Huang has not received a defensive briefing warning him about the suspected intelligence operation, the report said.

The allegations center on Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese citizen associated with Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. American officials initially scrutinized her over suspicions that she was helping China circumvent restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips.

Electronic surveillance subsequently led officials to conclude she was providing information to Beijing, the Times reported.

Officials initially did not believe Nvidia's chief executive knew about her alleged intelligence activities. The report said it remains unclear whether that assessment has changed. Nvidia defended the relationship as routine business contact. "Jensen's interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected," Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo told the Times. "Meetings with customers are part of a C.E.O.'s job."

Rizzo said customers receive ordinary commercial information, rather than sensitive trade secrets or national security information. Nvidia also said it had investigated and rejected allegations that Megaspeed was smuggling chips.

Megaspeed told the newspaper it had retained outside counsel for an internal investigation and informed U.S. authorities that it would cooperate. Alice Huang did not respond to requests for comment, and her current involvement with the company remains unclear. Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Chang dismissed the allegations as "groundless smears and slanders."

The investigation reaches beyond personal access to Nvidia's chief executive into a network supplying computing capacity to Chinese businesses. Megaspeed purchases equipment containing Nvidia chips and rents computing power to customers including Alibaba, according to the Times. Investigators suspect some chips acquired by the company have also entered China illegally, an allegation Nvidia disputes.

Trade records obtained from ImportGenius by the Times showed that Megaspeed's Malaysian sister company purchased at least $4.8 billion in advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia chips and technology between June 2024 and February 2026, the newspaper reported.

American scrutiny began in late 2024 after a Commerce Department official visited a Malaysian data center and found Nvidia equipment still boxed. Officials considered that a possible indication that equipment was passing through the site rather than being installed.

Singaporean authorities questioned Alice Huang in 2025 and released her. The Commerce Department investigation was transferred to the Justice Department this year, according to administration officials cited by the Times.

Nvidia and Megaspeed continued doing business this year. Nvidia still identifies Megaspeed as a cloud partner, while the company has continued promoting its Nvidia connections and developing a Malaysian data center.

The report did not establish what information Alice Huang allegedly passed to Beijing, its value, or which agencies monitored her. It also remains unclear whether protecting surveillance influenced the decision against warning Jensen Huang.