What we know about Alice Huang, the alleged spy at the center of the Nvidia scandal

(CNN) — Who is Alice Huang, the woman allegedly at the center of the scandal enveloping the world’s most powerful chip company?

She’s been photographed with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (no relation) at banquet dinners and golf resorts, clinking wine glasses and even leaving an event with him in the same car.

But for someone suddenly generating international headlines, she remains something of a mystery.

Her limited online footprint paints a picture of a journalist-turned tech power broker who held senior positions at financial firms in Asia.

However, US officials believe she was also working as a Chinese spy who was having an affair with the Nvidia chief – and tasked with collecting intelligence on one of the world’s most valuable tech giants in an effort to help Beijing surpass the US in AI dominance.

The espionage allegations, combined with an admission of an extramarital affair by the Nvidia chief, have rocked the semiconductor behemoth and the broader chip industry.

Here’s what we know about the elusive executive in the middle of it all.

What’s her background?

US Customs and Border Patrol travel records obtained by CNN that correspond with Alice Huang’s social media posts in the US identify her as a 43-year-old Chinese citizen by the name of Huang Le.

According to Chinese social media and databases tracking the career of Huang Le, she worked as a journalist for Chinese state television before pivoting to a career in finance.

A report from New York Times described Alice Huang as a fluent English speaker who frequented industry conferences and executive dinners, with connections at the highest levels of the AI industry.

One Chinese private-equity fund website said Huang had four years of experience in the media and eight in the securities industry, including at HSBC and Citic Securities. CNN has reached out to HSBC and Citic Securities for comment.

From March to November of 2023, Huang was a director at Megaspeed International, according to corporate records in Singapore, where the company is based. The cloud computing and data center provider was originally incorporated in 2015 as a Chinese video game developer called 7Road International.

But in the three years since Huang became director and the company changed its name, Megaspeed has become one of the largest buyers of Nvidia chips in Asia, purchasing more than $4 billion worth of its semiconductors by some analyst estimates.

Corporate records also indicate Megaspeed received funding from Chinese tech giant Alibaba, and the company has come under investigation for potentially providing Chinese companies with unauthorized access to US chips. Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing and said it is a “compliant and legal company.”

Alice Huang’s current whereabouts are unclear – and she has made no public statement or appearance since last year, when reports of the suspicions surrounding her relationship with Jensen Huang first broke. CNN has reached out to Megaspeed, Singapore’s government and Singaporean police.

How does she know Jensen Huang?

It is unclear exactly where and when they met, but the Chinese executive has become something of a regular fixture in Huang’s business circles, appearing at the side of the Nvidia CEO at private and corporate events.

The two were pictured together as early as September 2024 on WeChat, the ubiquitous Chinese social messaging app, at a luxury golf resort in California.

Records from US Customs and Border Protection show Alice Huang has visited the US ten times since 2017. The most recent trip was in March of last year, when she was photographed visiting Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara during the company’s annual conference.

In May 2025, the two attended a group dinner in Taipei during a tech conference and left in the same car.

Nvidia has previously denied there was anything “unusual or unexpected” about their relationship. “Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year,” the company said in statement from October.

But on Sunday, the company said it was opening an independent investigation into whether the CEO was “the target of a foreign intelligence effort.” The same weekend Huang admitted to his extramarital affair in a company-wide statement without naming the other party involved.

Were any secrets stolen?

Nvidia, which is worth about $4.5 trillion and designs some of the world’s most advanced AI chips, said as of Sunday that it has no reason to believe that state or corporate secrets had been compromised.

The FBI first raised concerns to lawmakers that Alice Huang might be feeding information to China nearly a year ago, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The New York Times also reported that intelligence officials were conducting electronic surveillance of Alice Huang for at least a year, and had briefed President Donald Trump on the matter last year.

Trump said he did not regret not taking action, and downplayed Jensen Huang’s culpability in the incident on Monday. He said he believed that the Nvidia CEO was unaware of any potential motivations of espionage.

On Monday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the allegations that Alice Huang was a Chinese spy “groundless speculation and an attempt to smear and malign China.”

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CNN’s Isaac Yee and Wayne Chang contributed to this report from Taipei.