In December 2023, a Chinese executive who goes by the name Alice Huang met with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and a small group of colleagues at an Italian restaurant in Singapore.
asserted
who → go → Singapore
In a photo of the previously unreported meeting, which was confirmed by The New York Times, Alice Huang smiled as she posed next to Jensen Huang (no relation), who was in his trademark black leather jacket.
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who → confirm → jacket
They held a glass of red wine.
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They → hold → wine
Backed by wealthy investors in Shanghai, she had just restructured a company that would soon buy billions of dollars in Nvidia artificial intelligence chips.
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that → back → chips
The US government had barred Chinese companies from buying the advanced chips, but she had sidestepped this prohibition by creating a firm, Megaspeed, through a Singaporean shell company.
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she → bar → company
Her close relationship with Nvidia’s leader also appeared to smooth the way.
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relationship → appear → way
Four days after the ownership change, Megaspeed was named as an Nvidia cloud partner, giving it access to the coveted components.
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Megaspeed → name → components
Their relationship is now at the centre of a global geopolitical competition between China and the US government to dominate AI.
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relationship → dominate → AI
It has also shaken and captivated the tech industry on both sides of the Pacific, surfacing often invisible details of the fierce technological race, like spycraft and the human vulnerabilities of AI kingmakers like Jensen Huang.
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It → shake → Huang
The meeting in Singapore was a sign of Alice Huang’s relationship with Jensen Huang going back further than previously known.
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relationship → go → Huang
It also speaks to the close social and business ties that grew during years of tech collaboration between China and the United States, and how they have persisted despite the icy geopolitical divide of the past decade.
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they → speak → decade
The Times was the first to report Jensen Huang’s dealings with Megaspeed and Alice Huang last year.
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Times → report → Megaspeed
Last month, the Times reported that US officials had concluded she was a Chinese intelligence asset who had developed a close relationship with the Nvidia leader, and that President Donald Trump had taken no action when briefed on the situation last year.
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Trump → report → situation
Last week, the Times reported that Alice Huang had been recruited to spy by China’s Ministry of State Security.
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Huang → report → Security
On Sunday (US time), Jensen Huang, 63, acknowledged that he had an affair with her, and Nvidia said it was conducting an internal investigation.
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it → acknowledge → investigation
Many details of the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, including when they met and when she may have been recruited by Chinese intelligence, are not known.
uncertain
she → include → intelligence
But Alice Huang’s work with Megaspeed put her in the middle of a sprawling effort to accumulate AI chips across South-East Asia and provide access to the technology to China’s companies.
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work → put → companies
Huang used her experience and connections in the world of Shanghai finance to work her way into tech circles.
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Huang → use → circles
Photos from her social media, which were verified by the Times, show that she and Jensen Huang met around the world over the past three years, including in Shanghai; at Nvidia’s Silicon Valley headquarters in California; at a golf resort south of San Jose, California; and in Taiwan.
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she → verify → Taiwan
After the 2023 meeting in Singapore, Alice Huang, whose Chinese name is Huang Le, used her experience and connections in the world of Shanghai finance to work her way into tech circles.
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Huang → use → circles
She turned Megaspeed into a destination for Nvidia technology, working with a long-time business partner who was often introduced as her husband.
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who → turn → husband
The success attracted the attention of authorities.
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success → attract → authorities
By 2024, the United States had dispatched a Commerce Department official to check on her company.
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States → dispatch → company
She was monitored by the Taiwanese government during her visits to the island, including when she appeared publicly with Jensen Huang.
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she → monitor → Huang
For part of 2025, she was not allowed to leave Singapore because of an investigation.
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she → allow → investigation
Between 2024 and 2026, the firm bought billions of dollars of Nvidia’s advanced AI technology, bringing Alice Huang further into Jensen Huang’s orbit.
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firm → buy → orbit
Details about Alice Huang, much of which have not been previously reported, are based on a Times analysis of 15 years of corporate documents, as well as interviews with more than half a dozen people and government officials familiar with her and her business.
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much → report → her
Alice Huang did not respond to a request for comment.
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Huang → respond → comment
Nvidia and Megaspeed declined to comment.
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Nvidia → decline → ?
China has denied the espionage claims.
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China → deny → claims
For many years, Alice Huang’s life was rooted in the high-flying world of Shanghai finance.
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life → root → finance
She mingled easily with tech executives from China and the US alike, according to people who have met her.
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who → mingle → her
In China, Huang is closely linked to a business partner named Kang Wei.
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Huang → link → partner
Kang, a 51-year-old fund manager, has been introduced as Huang’s husband to Chinese investors and Megaspeed employees, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Kang → introduce → matter
The Times could not verify whether the two are married.
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two → verify → ?
Kang rose to prominence at a young age, earning a reputation as a savvy stockmarket strategist in the 2000s.
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Kang → rise → 2000s
Chinese financial media treated him as a sort of boy wonder.
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media → treat → wonder
By the 2010s, he had moved into private equity, including investing in online gaming firms.
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he → move → firms
China’s securities regulator has fined Kang at least twice for failing to disclose his stakes in listed companies.
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regulator → fin → companies
He has also struggled with fellow investors for corporate control, according to regulatory filings.
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He → struggle → filings
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
