China’s top spy agency recruited woman who targeted Nvidia’s Jensen Huang

• The Trump administration saw a memo saying Chinese businessperson Alice Huang was a spy for China’s MSS and was tasked to target Nvidia chief Jensen Huang.
• US officials say she sought chip intelligence and influence, while her firm Megaspeed bought advanced Nvidia chips and built data centres in South-east Asia for China.
• The case has raised alarm on Capitol Hill and sharpened debate over US chip sales to China, as Nvidia and China deny wrongdoing and call the claims false.

WASHINGTON – A memo that circulated among top policymakers in the Trump administration last spring cited intelligence that a Chinese businessperson who had a close relationship with Nvidia’s CEO was a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security, according to people briefed on the intelligence.

The businessperson, Alice Huang, was recruited to collect intelligence on Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, as part of a drive by Beijing’s top spy agency to learn more about US AI chips and potentially influence the company to push for its most advanced chips to be made available to China, the people said.