A lottery retailer in rural Australia, a dilapidated storefront in Kuala Lumpur, and a near-empty office in Singapore: the global facades of Megaspeed International, the company linked to the downfall of Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, form a puzzling corporate picture.
asserted
facades → link → picture
The company, which is registered in Singapore, has registered affiliates across the US, Asia and Australia, but individuals at its offices say they know nothing about the cloud computing firm at the centre of a global spy scandal.
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they → register → scandal
On Friday Huang resigned as chief executive of the chip manufacturer Nvidia after reports of extramarital affairs with an alleged Chinese spy and two company employees.
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Huang → resign → spy
US intelligence agencies believe Huang had been targeted by Alice Huang (no relation), the former director of Megaspeed International.
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Huang → believe → International
US officials believe Huang was acting as a Chinese intelligence asset, passing commercial information to Beijing, the New York Times has reported.
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Times → believe → Beijing
On Thursday, Singaporean authorities said Alice Huang had been barred from re-entering the city state after a 2025 investigation into the company.
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Huang → say → company
Singapore police said last October they were investigating Megaspeed over “suspected breaches of our domestic laws” after a US senator requested the commerce department investigate whether the firm had diverted Nvidia chips.
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firm → say → chips
The ministry of home affairs said this week it had held Alice Huang’s passport from June 2025 until February over “potential false declarations” related to Megaspeed.
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it → say → Megaspeed
Eventually, she was released with a stern warning.
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she → release → warning
Earlier this week, authorities in Taiwan said she had also been barred from re-entering there.
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she → say → Taiwan
On Friday Malaysia said it was investigating a subsidiary of Megaspeed International over the possible diversion of advanced AI chips to other countries.
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it → say → countries
Across the region, Megaspeed’s activities remain obscure.
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activities → remain → region
In Sydney, no signage, mailbox or physical presence suggests the company at the epicentre of one of the biggest stories in the world is located on the 10th floor of an office building in the city centre.
“Do you have an appointment?” a receptionist asked when the Guardian visted the office, home to numerous businesses.
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Guardian → suggest → businesses
It hummed with activity but no one had heard of Megaspeed Australia or its listed director, 29-year-old Kai Kang.
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one → hum → Australia
Megaspeed International filed papers in the US state of Delaware and with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic), showing the affiliates were created in 2024.
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affiliates → file → 2024
Both filings list the Shanghai-born Kang as the sole company officer, either as director or president.
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filings → list → director
The Australian filing also lists the Singapore-based parent as the company’s stockholder.
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filing → list → stockholder
Reuters visited the home address provided on the filings for the affiliates – a small store, a news agency and lottery retailer, in Seymour, Victoria, about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne.
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Reuters → visit → Melbourne
A woman, who identified herself as Kang’s mother, said she had run the business for about 16 years.
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she → identify → years
She said Kang was based in Shanghai and did not know anything about the Singaporean company.
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Kang → say → company
“He doesn’t have any business here,” she said, adding that Kang had completed his master’s degree at Shanghai University.
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Kang → have → University
He had visited his parents most recently in August and September, she said.
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she → visit → August
She said she knew about Nvidia and Megaspeed but her son had nothing to do with the company in Singapore.
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son → say → Singapore
It is not the only perplexing finding that journalists have encountered when trying to track down representatives of Megaspeed, which in the past three years has been one of Nvidia’s biggest foreign customers, purchasing nearly $5bn in AI chips and advanced hardware.
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which → encounter → chips
The Straits Times reported that Swiftdata, the little-known company that owns Megaspeed, had a registered business address in Singapore, but an interior design firm said it had occupied the premises for more than four years.
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it → report → years
Last year the New York Times visited Megaspeed’s Singapore headquarters, located in the central business district, but found only two employees present.
And in neighbouring Malaysia, the Times found that one of Megaspeed’s offices was a dilapidated storefront in the capital.
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one → visit → capital
Another was located in a shopping mall.
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Another → locate → mall
When one employee emerged in the mall, she was asked what the company did.
“It’s not clear,” she said.
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she → emerge → what
Kang is also registered as a director in Megaspeed’s Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai units.
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Kang → register → units
Kang has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
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Kang → accuse → wrongdoing
Attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
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Attempts → contact → him
Australian concerns
In Australia, a former intelligence officer said they expected Australian security agencies would have sought briefings from overseas counterparts about Megaspeed or undertaken their own assessments of the local subsidiary this week.
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agencies → say → subsidiary
Michael Shoebridge, the director of the security thinktank Strategic Analysis Australia and a former deputy of the Australian Signals Directorate and the Defence Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said key details about Megaspeed’s relationship with Chinese intelligence remained unclear.
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details → say → intelligence
He suggested it would be “credible” to assess the company as a “front for Chinese intelligence” but nothing was certain.
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nothing → suggest → intelligence
The Chinese government has flatly rejected any claims Alice Huang was a spy.
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Huang → reject → claims
A foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said earlier this week the allegations were “unsubstantiated” and “nothing but smears against China”.
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allegations → say → China
Shoebridge said Megaspeed’s Australian operation could be a legitimate business or designed to make the Singapore-based parent company “look credible” by having overseas affiliates.
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company → say → affiliates
Asio declined to comment when asked if it was examining Megaspeed Australia.
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it → decline → Australia
The office of the Australian home affairs minister, Tony Burke, also declined to comment.
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office → decline → minister
The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, was asked on ABC TV this week whether there had been discussions inside government “about some of the potential spying that could be taking place within Australian companies”.
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that → act → companies
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
