Nvidia's chip empire meets a spy-sized challenge

November 11, 2026 (MLN):Nvidia’s board has ordered an independent investigation into national security concerns surrounding CEO Jensen Huang, who has acknowledged infidelity after media reports tied him to Alice Huang, a senior Megaspeed executive that US intelligence officials reportedly suspect of acting as a Chinese intelligence asset, thrusting the Singapore-based cloud firm into the global spotlight.

Jensen Huang did not name Megaspeed or Alice Huang in his statement, but said he supports the probe, will cooperate fully, and remains committed to protecting Nvidia and America’s national security, according to CNBC.

Nvidia said it has no reason to believe that national security or company secrets were compromised, but that the board’s review will cover all available information.

The New York Times reported that US officials suspect Alice Huang of working for Beijing.

The House Select Committee on China said in a Nov 5 statement that Alice Huang is a Megaspeed executive and a publicly reported Chinese intelligence asset.

The committee has asked Jensen Huang to attend a Nov 18 briefing to establish how far US national security may have been put at risk, citing concerns over China’s access to sensitive American technology and information.

Three House committees in total have sought closed-door briefings with him on his relationship with Megaspeed.

The Times also reported on Friday that a memo circulated among Trump administration policymakers last spring described a Chinese businesswoman close to Jensen Huang as passing information on US AI chips to Beijing’s top spy agency while seeking policy influence.

It described Alice Huang as a Chinese citizen with strong English skills and wide connections among senior chip industry executives.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was amazed by the allegations and that Jensen Huang told him he had no idea she was a spy.

President Trump added that the FBI is now looking into the matter.

Democratic lawmakers, who are set to take control of the House and Senate after last week’s midterm elections, have said publicly that Congress will investigate and seek answers.

Megaspeed sells Asia Pacific companies access to computing capacity hosted in Southeast Asian data centres, and describes itself as a core business partner of Nvidia’s computing power cloud business in the region.

The service lets customers rent power from Nvidia GPUs, including remote access to advanced chips located outside China.

Megaspeed, which has offices in Singapore and Indonesia, has previously drawn media and government scrutiny over whether some of its GPUs were diverted to China, CNBC reported.

Nvidia sells advanced AI and data centre chips to customers including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta and Oracle, and its market capitalisation touched $5tr earlier this year on the AI boom.

Jensen Huang has been closely aligned with Donald Trump in the president’s second term, advising the White House on AI safety rules while pushing for looser curbs on chip sales to China.

President Trump said in December that Nvidia could ship H200 chips to China if the US received a 25% cut of sales.

In March, Jensen Huang told reporters that Nvidia had received purchase orders and was restarting manufacturing.

Nvidia shares closed at $168.89 on Nasdaq on Tuesday, down $9.78 or 5.47%, according to Investing.com.

Attention now turns to the outcome of the board’s independent inquiry and any further steps by US authorities and lawmakers, which could shape investor sentiment and the company’s standing in Washington in the weeks ahead.

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