Alice Huang, alleged Chinese spy linked to Nvidia CEO, worked at state broadcaster CCTV, HSBC before Megaspeed stint

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman suspected by US intelligence agencies of working for Beijing. Both Nvidia and Megaspeed, the Singapore-based company she was associated with, are under investigation amid allegations of a Chinese espionage operation targeting the chipmaker.Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese spy. (@MarioNawfal/X)Also known as Huang Le, Alice Huang is a Chinese national who has been associated with Megaspeed, one of Nvidia's major customers in Southeast Asia. US intelligence agencies concluded that she was a Chinese intelligence asset who had been gathering information for Beijing, according to The New York Times. The newspaper reported that she was allegedly recruited by China's ministry of state security (MSS), the country's principal civilian intelligence agency, as part of an operation targeting Jensen Huang and Nvidia.“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang said in a letter to Nvidia staff on Sunday. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did.”ALSO READ | Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledges affair with alleged Chinese spy as tech giant launches probeAlice Huang worked as reporterAlice Huang's professional background includes reported stints in television, banking and investment management. She previously worked as a television reporter with Hunan TV and China Central Television (CCTV), China's state broadcaster, according to a profile attributed to her in a Chinese private-fund database.According to the same Chinese investment database, Alice later worked at The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), where she was listed as an assistant to the president of its private banking division. She reportedly went on to become a vice-president at CITIC Securities, one of China's major financial services companies.Alice also worked at Shanghai Hexi Investment Management, also known as Hexi Capital, where she reportedly served as an executive director and fund manager. The Shanghai-based investment firm had investments in several semiconductor- and artificial intelligence-related businesses.HT could not independently verify these credentials. The New York Post reported that a Hunan TV executive said he had never heard of her.ALSO READ | Jensen Huang met wife Lori at 17, told her he would be CEO by 30Alice Huang's association with MegaspeedAlice Huang's association with Megaspeed has also come under scrutiny. The company was reportedly renamed Megaspeed in March 2023, when Alice became its managing director. It was reportedly owned by Huang Le Limited, a company associated with her, before ownership was transferred to Swiftdata in November 2023. Alice Huang also left her formal director position around this period, the report said.Megaspeed's Malaysian sister company bought at least $4.8 billion worth of advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia chips and technology between June 2024 and February 2026, according to trade records obtained from ImportGenius. Megaspeed reportedly acquired Nvidia equipment through intermediaries, including the American arm of Chinese server manufacturer Inspur.US investigation into MegaspeedThe US government has been investigating Megaspeed over suspicions that it could be helping Chinese companies circumvent American restrictions on advanced AI chip exports.According to The New York Times, the Commerce Department began investigating the company in late 2024 after an official visited its data centre in Malaysia and found Nvidia equipment still packed in boxes. Officials reportedly considered this suspicious because the equipment appeared to be moving through the facility rather than being installed there.US intelligence agencies had been conducting electronic surveillance of Alice Huang when they discovered that she was in contact with an American citizen. Through a process known as unmasking, officials identified the American citizen as Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive.The newspaper reported that US intelligence agencies concluded that Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset who had developed a close personal relationship with Jensen Huang. She was allegedly gathering information about him, Nvidia and developments in the American AI industry for Beijing.Nvidia has maintained that its dealings with Megaspeed were ordinary business transactions and rejected allegations that the company was involved in smuggling chips to China.