China’s intelligence service allegedly recruited a semiconductor executive to gather intelligence on American artificial intelligence hardware and influence Nvidia’s business in China, according to reports citing The New York Times. The Ministry of State Security reportedly enlisted Alice Huang, an executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed, to glean information about cutting-edge AI chips and potentially persuade the company to advocate making its most advanced processors available to the Chinese market.
Alice Huang, who is not related to Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, reportedly developed a close relationship with the tech leader alongside connections to other senior figures across the AI hardware sector, including executives at Gigabyte. Although earlier reports indicated that Jensen Huang was viewed as the target of a Chinese espionage plot, the new accounts allege that Chinese intelligence actively recruited her to exploit those high-level industry ties.
The alleged operation has drawn scrutiny from policymakers in Washington. President Donald Trump was briefed last year on the relationship between Alice Huang and the Nvidia CEO but took no action. Now, three US House committees have asked Jensen Huang to appear for a joint, closed-door briefing regarding his interactions with her, signaling growing congressional concern over foreign efforts to penetrate the leadership of America's chip industry.