As more information about the ongoing situation at Nvidia unravels, U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that the FBI is investigating CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a suspected Chinese spy days after he admitted to the indiscretion. According to the Associated Press, the president said this during a briefing at the White House, with one reporter asking him about his knowledge of Huang’s issue before it became publicly known. The news comes amidst a separate bombshell report from Bloomberg, which claims that Nvidia intervened in a US government probe of suspected chip smuggling by Megaspeed, where Alice Huang was an executive.
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“Well, I’ve been hearing about it, and I’ve been reading about it over a period of time, but, uh, not too long ago,” Trump said. “We’ll look into, I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something, and I think he’ll be in good shape.” He also said, “I did speak to him today just to see if he’s feeling alright, how you’re doing. He said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy.”
It has been previously reported that U.S. intelligence services suspected that Alice Huang, who previously held an executive position at Megaspeed, had ties to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is one of the country’s intelligence services, and that they told the President about it over a year ago. However, it was reported he did not act on the information, as he reportedly did not want to jeopardize Nvidia sales or antagonize Beijing, especially after the White House approved the export of H200 chips to China with an attached 25% fee.
Congress has called Huang once to confront him about these rumors, with the CEO confirming his affair with Alice Huang shortly after. The committee said it has "concerns over Nvidia’s security protocols against foreign adversary espionage and Mr. Huang’s reported ties to a Chinese intelligence-linked executive of a Singapore-based data center company.” Now, it seems that the FBI, which is the U.S.’s primary domestic counterintelligence agency, is looking into the situation, too.
While the infidelity of tech executives is usually outside the purview of politicians and law enforcement, Jensen Huang’s sensitive position as the head of the leading AI chip manufacturer that arguably single-handedly drove the global AI race has made him a prominent target. China has denied the accusation that Alice Huang is its agent, but a think tank suggests that “China is employing ‘attractive women’ posing as investors, business professionals, academics, or romantic partners to gain access to U.S. tech talent, networks, and research infrastructure.”
This is why Nvidia’s supposed intervention in the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) investigation into Megaspeed is becoming a concern. Megaspeed has been investigated for allegedly smuggling $2 billion worth of Nvidia AI processors into China, although Nvidia has claimed that it has done its due diligence and did not find any signs of diversions by the company. Despite that, Bloomberg reports that Nvidia executive vice president and general counsel Tim Teter reached out to U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security and BIS head Jeffrey Kessler to ask about the administration’s investigation into the company and whether the BIS was involved in Singapore’s detention of Alice Huang at that time. Sources claimed that the U.S. agency was not involved in Ms. Huang’s apprehension by Singaporean authorities.
The publication reported BIS staff were told to route all Nvidia requests through Kessler or to seek approval from him for any outreach involving the company, which people say was highly unusual, and that Teter even supposedly reached out directly to BIS employees. When the affected employees forwarded the emails to Kessler and raised their concerns, the BIS chief instructed them to handle the case by the book. But in late 2025, the Justice Department, which was working alongside the BIS, asked the bureau to pause its efforts on the Megaspeed investigation.
Even though Jensen Huang admitted to having an affair with Alice Huang, who was linked to Megaspeed and is suspected to be working at the behest of Beijing, there is still no clear proof that Ms. Huang had a direct role in influencing the Nvidia chief to push for the resumption of Nvidia AI chip sales to China. Still, the unraveling of this supposed spy plot has caught the attention of the American leadership, and they’re now asking questions about Nvidia’s security protocols and the company’s sway on Washington.
