NYT: U.S. Officials Concluded a Megaspeed Executive Close to Jensen Huang Was a Chinese Intelligence Asset

The most striking claim in the Times's report is about the U.S. government, not Nvidia: if officials concluded that someone close to Jensen Huang was working for Chinese intelligence, the paper says they never told him. These are allegations from people the Times did not name, about classified material no outsider can check.

The New York Times reported on October 29, citing people briefed on classified surveillance, that U.S. officials concluded Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese citizen and an executive at the server company Megaspeed, was a Chinese intelligence asset. According to the Times, the surveillance showed she had a close relationship with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, whose identity as a U.S. citizen was unmasked in the intelligence reporting.

What the Times reports#

The Times reports that President Trump was briefed on the findings about a year ago and did not act on them. It reports that Jensen Huang has not received a defensive briefing, the warning U.S. agencies can give people they believe are being targeted. At the initial briefing, officials did not believe he knew of her alleged role, according to the paper, and the surveillance is continuing.

The chip thread#

The report links the counter-intelligence case to an export-control one. The Times says Megaspeed affiliates kept buying Nvidia chips, and that a Megaspeed sister company in Malaysia bought at least $4.8 billion of equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026, citing ImportGenius trade data. It reports that the Commerce Department has been investigating Megaspeed since late 2024 and handed the case to the Justice Department this year, and that Singapore authorities questioned Alice Huang in 2025 and released her. Questions about where Nvidia's servers end up are not new: Taiwanese prosecutors in August indicted nine people over B300 exports to China.

The responses#

Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo told the Times that Huang's interactions were "not unusual or unexpected" because "Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year", and that customers receive "ordinary business information — not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets — and zero information relevant to national security." Nvidia also said it had previously investigated smuggling claims and found them to be false. Rizzo told the Times, and Nvidia said in a statement to Tom's Hardware, that the company is confident that if the U.S. government believes any person is a threat to American industry, "it would let us know."

Megaspeed told the Times it has retained outside counsel, opened an internal investigation and told the U.S. government it will cooperate. Liu Chang, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy, called the report "groundless smears and slanders." The White House, the CIA and the NSA declined to comment, and Alice Huang did not respond, the Times reports.

Limits#

• Every intelligence claim here comes from people the Times did not name, describing classified surveillance that Times of AI cannot review.
• The Times does not report that Jensen Huang shared secrets or knew of the alleged intelligence role, though it reports that some senior Trump administration officials doubt he could have remained unaware of it; Nvidia rejects any suggestion that sensitive information was passed.
• The $4.8 billion figure is the Times's reading of trade data, not a government finding. Megaspeed has not been charged with any offence in the material reviewed here.
• The Times article did not load for Times of AI; its full text was read as syndicated by Business Standard. Tom's Hardware is an independent check on Nvidia's response only, not on the intelligence findings.

Sources#

• The New York Times: report on U.S. intelligence, Megaspeed and Jensen Huang (October 29, 2026)
• Business Standard (New York Times syndication): US intelligence links Nvidia CEO contact to China spying concerns (October 29, 2026)
• Tom's Hardware: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have been the target of a spy plot through a Chinese intelligence asset, report claims (October 29, 2026)