Jensen Huangs ties to suspected Chinese spy helped fuel $7.5B in Nvidia chip sales to China: report

Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy linked romantically to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, allegedly leveraged her connections to help funnel at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chips to China through a network of family-linked companies, according to a report Tuesday.The Chinese businesswoman helped move some 240,000 Nvidia chips subject to US export restrictions into the country, The Information reported, citing two people who know her.The allegations raise fresh questions about Nvidia’s oversight of its distributors as the company’s board investigates whether its billionaire founder was the target of a foreign intelligence operation.Corporate records cited by The Information link Alice Huang’s sister, Huang Yu, to Shanghai Century Litong through a company that held an ownership stake when the Chinese firm was founded in June 2023.That shareholder exited the business the following year.By October 2023, Century Litong had secured preferred cloud partner status with Nvidia, giving it an advantage in obtaining the chipmaker’s hardware through distributors as Washington tightened restrictions on advanced AI processors bound for China.Century Litong denied having any business dealings with Alice Huang, telling The Information that it secured Nvidia’s partner credentials “through its professional expertise and compliant channels.”The report also identified Singapore-based Megaspeed, where Alice Huang was managing director for eight months in 2023, as another company linked to the network.Bloomberg also reported that financing documents filed with Chinese regulators linked AI startup Moonshot to a contract for renting 32 servers equipped with Nvidia’s powerful B300 processors.The machines, valued at approximately $64.8 million, were listed as being located in China despite US restrictions on exporting the advanced chips without a license.Bloomberg could not determine whether the necessary authorization had been obtained.Moonshot, the Chinese AI firm that develope...