In September 2024, a US Commerce Department official visited a data centre in Malaysia and found some of its Nvidia equipment still in boxes. The facility belonged to Megaspeed, a little-known Singapore company buying an extraordinary volume of American chips. The boxes raised a question. Was this where the chips would be installed, or a stop on the way somewhere else?
More than two years later, Jensen Huang sent a message to Nvidia employees. “I was unfaithful to my wife,” he wrote. The email did not name the woman. According to The New York Times, Huang had acknowledged an intimate relationship with her to Nvidia's board. Her name was Alice Huang. She was no relation. She was one of the executives behind Megaspeed.
On the same Sunday, Nvidia announced an independent investigation into reports that its founder had been targeted by foreign intelligence. A case that began with questions about where American chips were going had reached the man who had spent years lobbying Washington over where they should be allowed to go.
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The Customer at the Bar
Three months before the inspection in Malaysia, Alice Huang was photographed at a bar in Taipei, sitting beside Jensen Huang and drinking whisky with other tech executives. The photo appeared on LinkedIn. In May 2025, after another dinner with AI suppliers, she was seen waiting behind him outside a Taipei restaurant while he spoke to reporters.
Megaspeed had grown out of a Chinese gaming business and rented computing power to customers including Alibaba. An early account put its commitment to Nvidia products at close to $2 billion. Later trade records showed that its Malaysian sister company bought at least $4.8 billion in advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026. Singapore corporate filings had listed Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, as a managing director. She had already resigned as a director before the first Taipei photograph. The firm's registered owner was another company, and its director was a Singaporean who had lived in Shanghai.
US officials suspected some of the equipment had been diverted to China in breach of export controls. In October 2025, Senator Tom Cotton urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate Megaspeed, citing the boxed chips. The case was later referred to the Justice Department, the Times reported. Nvidia said its own review had found no evidence of diversion. Megaspeed said it had hired outside lawyers and would cooperate with US authorities.
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The American on the Intercept
While monitoring Alice Huang electronically, US intelligence officials picked up her contact with an American whose identity had been masked in intelligence reporting. Officials went through a process known as unmasking to learn his name. It was Jensen Huang.
The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators suspected Chinese intelligence had recruited Alice Huang after learning she was already close to the Nvidia chief. That sequence would mean Beijing approached someone who already had access to him. The Journal also reported physical surveillance tied to inquiries in Asia. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs disputed the paper's account of its role, saying it had conducted no such investigation into Alice Huang's alleged intelligence ties. Singapore police have confirmed a separate investigation into Megaspeed. Beijing dismissed the espionage allegations. No public charges against Alice Huang have been reported.
President Donald Trump was briefed roughly a year before the story broke. The Times reported that he took no action, wary of disrupting Nvidia's sales or complicating trade with China. Officials initially believed Jensen Huang was unaware of Alice Huang's alleged role. Some senior officials later questioned that assessment. According to the Times, nobody gave him the formal warning US officials sometimes deliver to suspected targets of foreign intelligence.
By the spring, a classified memo describing a romantic relationship had reached a small circle of senior officials ahead of Trump's May trip to Beijing, the Financial Times reported. Huang was absent when Air Force One left Washington. He boarded during a refuelling stop in Anchorage. As officials weighed what the relationship might mean for US chip policy, Nvidia's chief was on the president's plane to China.
Ten Days From ‘Completely Normal' to an Apology
On October 29, the Times made the intelligence allegations public. Nvidia described the contacts as routine meetings with a customer and said it shared ordinary business information with customers. Huang told Bloomberg his interactions with Alice Huang were tied to Megaspeed and had been “completely normal and not unusual.” Then the Financial Times reported what the memo said about the relationship. On November 8 came the apology and the board inquiry.
There was already pressure on the stock. Nvidia fell 9.26% on November 5 during a broader tech sell-off, then recovered some ground to close at $186.64 on Friday, before Huang's admission. Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives called the episode a “black eye moment” for Huang and said it would draw more scrutiny to Nvidia's China sales. Democratic Senator Chris Coons said Congress would investigate.
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The Board Backs Its Founder
Nvidia's directors say they have confidence in Huang and have no reason to believe company secrets or national security were compromised. Independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will conduct the inquiry. The announcement gave no deadline. Nvidia says Huang will continue as CEO.
The inquiry turns on what Huang disclosed, what information passed between them and whether the relationship affected any decision involving Megaspeed or chip exports. The publicly reported evidence leaves those questions open. The board also has a practical problem. Huang has described running Nvidia with 60 direct reports. The company has named no public successor.
Three House committee chairs want an answer from Huang by November 11 on whether he will attend a closed-door briefing. Nvidia reports earnings on November 17. The proposed briefing is the next day. Investors will get the numbers first. Then lawmakers want to hear what Huang knew about the customer he once said he had every reason to meet.
