As a scandal involving Jensen Huang (젠슨 황) and Alice Huang (앨리스 황) emerges as a U.S. national security issue, details are being disclosed on how their relationship was linked to Nvidia chips flowing into China in large volumes by sidestepping U.S. government export restrictions.

The Information reported that the ties between Alice Huang, whom the U.S. government has identified as an informant for a Chinese intelligence agency, and Jensen Huang, Nvidia's CEO, date back to at least 2023.

The two later built a close relationship. In the process, Nvidia chips worth at least $7.5 billion could be supplied to China through Chinese companies, The Information reported, citing two sources who know Alice Huang.

Alice Huang also built a network of companies with complex ties spanning China and Singapore to secure Nvidia chips with her sisters and husband, The Information reported, citing sources and corporate registration records.

Alice Huang, a former reporter at a Chinese state media broadcaster, worked in finance before joining Singapore data centre company Megaspeed in 2023. Megaspeed, spun off from Chinese company 7Road Holdings, has promoted itself as a provider of Nvidia hardware-based cloud services for the Asia-Pacific region, and Alice Huang was listed as a director of Megaspeed from March to November 2023.

Bloomberg News reported that from 2023 to 2025, the amount of Nvidia chips imported by Megaspeed reached $4.6 billion.

Chinese company Shanghai Century Litong is also drawing attention as a firm that played a key role, through Alice Huang, in Nvidia chips flowing into China.

Founded in June 2023 around the same time as Megaspeed, Shanghai Century Litong has rented out computing power and operated data centres that provide Nvidia GPUs. That included GPUs banned from sale in China. Some of the chips obtained by Shanghai Century Litong were ultimately supplied to data centres that also provide services to Alibaba, Tencent and smaller Chinese AI companies, The Information reported, citing sources.

Shanghai Century Litong was added to Nvidia's list of preferred cloud partners in October 2023. Being selected as a preferred partner allows a company to receive priority supplies of Nvidia chips.

Shanghai Century Litong secured Nvidia chips not only through Megaspeed but also through other channels, The Information reported.

The issue between Alice Huang and Jensen Huang did not remain a personal relationship before only recently turning into a national security issue. The Wall Street Journal reported that by late 2024, multiple national intelligence authorities had already begun to worry about ties between Megaspeed and China.

The U.S. Commerce Department and the Justice Department began investigating whether Nvidia smuggled chips into China, and authorities in Singapore and Taiwan also made Alice Huang a key subject of investigation and deployed surveillance personnel to track her movements.

After determining that Alice Huang had a close relationship with Nvidia's CEO, officials involved in the investigation suspected the possibility that she had been recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency, the WSJ reported.

For Nvidia, a burdensome point is that Jensen Huang, while building a close relationship with Alice Huang, spoke out in urging the U.S. government to ease chip export controls on China.

The allegation is raising new questions about how Nvidia has exercised influence, including by actively lobbying to sell advanced AI chips to China, the WSJ reported.

The Biden administration previously viewed AI semiconductors as a key national security issue and imposed strict export controls on China.

Against that backdrop, Jensen Huang repeatedly stressed whenever opportunities arose that it was important for the United States to maintain AI leadership by continuing to supply Nvidia hardware to China. He argued that encouraging China to buy U.S.-made AI chips could slow the development of China's domestic semiconductor industry.

After Donald Trump was re-elected in November 2024, Jensen Huang's moves on the matter stood out. Under a second Trump term, Jensen Huang also emerged as one of the key AI policy advisers.

In July 2025, Nvidia asked the U.S. government for an export licence for its H20 AI chip designed for the China market, and the U.S. government approved H20 sales in China on the condition that 15 percent of sales revenue be paid to the U.S. Treasury.

Earlier, Trump had Jensen Huang accompany him on a Middle East trip in May 2025 and allowed exports of Nvidia semiconductors to Middle Eastern countries. In the same month, Jensen Huang visited Taipei, Taiwan, where he was again spotted with Alice Huang. This time, photographs captured the two kissing each other on the cheek and lightly touching each other's arms at a dinner, the WSJ reported.

Nvidia has repeatedly said it did not know its chips were being smuggled into China.

A Nvidia spokesperson said the company banned all product sales and shipments to Megaspeed in June 2025 and has maintained the measure to date. The spokesperson added that parts and replacement parts sent to Megaspeed afterward received approval from a U.S. Commerce Department unit in charge of export controls.

There is also debate over why the scandal has only recently become an issue. Many analyses say the personal relationship between Jensen Huang and Trump played a role.

Foreign media reported that Trump was briefed in May, even on a private jet bound for China, about the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang. Even so, Trump was not greatly shaken and went ahead with the plan to have Jensen Huang accompany him on the China visit.

The Washington Post reported that a spy scandal surrounding Jensen Huang is exposing contradictions in Trump's China policy, and quoted it as saying, "President Trump has warned throughout his second term that the United States must not fall behind China in the AI race. He opposed AI regulations by citing the China threat, yet approved the sale of advanced technology to China. China hawks inside the administration argue the decision could help China narrow the technology gap."