U.S. intelligence officials believe Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman they assess was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security, according to people familiar with a government memo reported by the Financial Times.
The memo, drafted earlier this year from intelligence information, described the relationship between the Nvidia CEO and Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, an executive at the Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed. Officials assessed she had been tasked with gathering information on Huang and encouraging looser U.S. rules on advanced AI chip exports to China.
The document was shared with a small group of senior U.S. officials shortly before President Donald Trump traveled to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The White House and CIA declined to comment on the report. Nvidia declined to comment on the memo or the characterization of an intimate relationship.
Alice Huang is not related to Jensen Huang. She is a Chinese national who held a senior role at Megaspeed, a company that buys Nvidia hardware for data centers in Southeast Asia and has faced U.S. scrutiny over possible diversion of restricted chips. Photographs from June 2024 show the two at a Taipei bar after a technology event, seated with other industry executives. Additional images from 2025 captured them leaving a restaurant in the same city.
Jensen Huang, 63, was born Jen-Hsun Huang on February 17, 1963, in Taiwan. He co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its president and chief executive since. He is married to Lori Huang, whom he met while studying electrical engineering at Oregon State University; the couple has two adult children. Huang maintains a close working relationship with the Trump administration on artificial intelligence policy.
Public details on Alice Huang’s background remain limited. Profiles linked to her have claimed earlier work as a reporter for Chinese state media outlets including Hunan TV and CCTV, along with roles in private banking at HSBC and at CITIC Securities, followed by an executive position at a Shanghai investment firm connected to Megaspeed’s predecessor. Some of those media claims have been disputed by the outlets themselves. She has been described as fluent in English and active in AI industry circles.
U.S. agencies had already been examining Megaspeed over concerns it helped route advanced Nvidia processors in ways that could benefit Chinese customers despite export controls. A Malaysian affiliate was reported to have purchased billions of dollars in related equipment. Singapore authorities questioned Alice Huang in 2025 and released her. Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs later stated it had not investigated her for intelligence ties.
The New York Times first reported in late October that U.S. intelligence viewed Alice Huang as a Chinese asset who developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. Surveillance of her communications led officials to identify the Nvidia chief through an unmasking process. At the time of an earlier briefing to Trump about a year ago, officials did not believe Jensen Huang knew of any intelligence role, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nvidia has said the contacts were ordinary. “Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected,” a company spokesman stated. “Meetings with customers are part of a C.E.O.’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year.” In an interview, Jensen Huang described the dealings with Megaspeed as “normal and not unusual” and said the company had studied and counted every GPU deployment to confirm none had been improperly diverted. He noted Alice Huang is no longer with the firm.
China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the underlying claims as “groundless speculation” and an attempt to smear the country. Megaspeed has said its leadership is taking the reports seriously, retained outside counsel for an internal review, and would cooperate with U.S. authorities.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford sent a letter requesting that Jensen Huang appear for a joint closed-door briefing on November 18. The lawmakers asked about his interactions with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s security protocols against foreign adversary espionage, citing national security concerns over Chinese access to sensitive U.S. technology.
No charges have been filed against Alice Huang or Jensen Huang. What information, if any, was passed, and its value, has not been publicly detailed. The assessments rest on anonymous sources familiar with classified material and the memo. Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings are scheduled around the same period as the requested congressional appearance.
