Timeline: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s Suspected Spy Drama and China Ties
Relationship and China remarks
Huang spoke with Fortune in mid-October, before The New York Times reported later that month that U.S. officials believed Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset. She is not related to the Nvidia CEO. Online photos show them together in Taipei as early as June 2024, though the length of the relationship is unclear.
In the interview, Huang described China as a significant opportunity for Nvidia. He said the company could serve the local market while competing for AI business on behalf of the United States. He also expected continuing tension between Washington and Beijing and said Nvidia would not provide shareholders guidance on China sales.
Years of chip restrictions
The United States has restricted sales of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China on national security grounds. The Biden administration introduced export controls in 2022, seeking to slow China’s AI development and potential military applications. Subsequent rule changes also limited some scaled-down chips Nvidia had designed for the Chinese market.
U.S. rules have permitted exports of older GPU models and specialized versions designed to be less capable at training frontier AI systems. In October 2025, Huang said Nvidia’s share of the Chinese market had fallen from 95% to 0% after U.S. restrictions and Beijing’s response shut the company out.
A policy shift in 2025
In December 2025, President Trump reversed some Biden-era restrictions, allowing Nvidia to ship H200 chips to approved Chinese customers. The chips were designed to comply with U.S. export controls, and the U.S. government would receive a 25% cut. Huang had lobbied for greater access and met with Trump days before the announcement.
Nvidia has excluded China from its revenue forecasts since August 2025, citing regulatory uncertainty in both countries. Huang told Fortune the market remained large and growing, while offering no forecast for whether sales would recover.
Board review and customer scrutiny
After the Financial Times reported on a U.S. government memo describing a romantic relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, Huang acknowledged in a staff memo that he had been unfaithful to his wife. He wrote, “There is no excuse for what I did,” and said he was deeply sorry.
Nvidia’s board announced that independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, would investigate whether company secrets or national security had been compromised. It said it had no reason to believe either had been, and Huang said he would cooperate fully. U.S. officials reportedly believe Alice Huang worked for China’s Ministry of State Security. She was an executive at Singapore-based data center operator Megaspeed, which has become one of Nvidia’s largest customers over the past two years. A Malaysian affiliate bought at least $4.8 billion in equipment containing Nvidia chips from June 2024 to February 2026, according to The New York Times.
Key points
- Nvidia’s board is reviewing whether company secrets or national security were compromised.
- Huang remains CEO and says he will cooperate fully with the investigation.
- U.S. officials reportedly believe Alice Huang worked for China’s Ministry of State Security.
- A Malaysian affiliate of Megaspeed bought at least $4.8 billion in equipment containing Nvidia chips.