NYT: China's security ministry recruited operative to cultivate ties with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

The New York Times reported on Nov. 6, citing U.S. intelligence sources, that China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) recruited a female operative to cultivate a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, seeking intelligence on the company's next-generation graphics processors and pressing him to lobby Washington to loosen export controls on advanced chips to China. Three House committee chairmen have since asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing.

Recruited by the MSS; the target was next-generation chips

The woman, identified as Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, previously served as managing director of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data-centre company. U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that she was recruited by the MSS and developed a close relationship with Huang, in an operation dating to at least 2024, when the two — who are not related — were photographed together. The Times reported the aim was to learn more about Nvidia's most advanced hardware and to persuade Huang to lobby for shipments of some of the company's most advanced GPUs to China. Affiliates of Megaspeed bought at least $4.8 billion in Nvidia AI equipment between June 2024 and February 2026, while the company was already under investigation over suspected chip diversion to China.

Congress summons Huang; Trump was briefed a year ago

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford wrote to Huang on Nov. 4, asking him to attend a joint closed-door briefing on Nov. 18 and to respond by Nov. 11. The Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies briefed President Donald Trump on the findings about a year ago, but the administration took no action, and that Huang himself never received a defensive briefing — the warning agencies sometimes give Americans targeted by foreign intelligence.

Responses; no evidence Huang knew

Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo told the Times that the company does not share classified information with customers and that customers do not ask it to lobby the president over export deals. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy called the reports 'unsubstantiated' and 'nothing but smears against China'; Alice Huang did not respond to requests for comment, and the CIA and the White House declined to comment. The reporting does not establish that Huang knew of the alleged activity or shared sensitive information, and no one has been charged. The Financial Times, citing U.S. officials, reported that the two were believed to have been romantically involved; the Times itself did not elaborate on how close the relationship was.

Context: export controls and the China market

The United States bars sales of Nvidia's advanced AI chips to Chinese companies without permission. Huang successfully lobbied Trump in 2025 to allow shipments of certain scaled-down processors, with Nvidia agreeing to remit a 25% fee on such transactions to the federal government. China, including Hong Kong, accounted for $7.88 billion — 8.2% — of Nvidia's $96.2 billion in revenue in the quarter ended July 26. Separately, Reuters has reported that about 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips are sitting in Hong Kong warehouses awaiting Beijing's clearance for shipment to the mainland, as Chinese authorities weigh access to computing power against pushing domestic chip development.

(Sources: The New York Times; Gizmodo; Engadget; House Foreign Affairs Committee.)