Megaspeed says suspected Chinese spy left firm in 2025

Alice Huang, a suspected China spy connected to Nvidia's former chief Jensen Huang, departed her executive position at Megaspeed in August last year, according to the company. Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive of the AI chip manufacturer Nvidia following allegations of affairs with Alice Huang and one of his own staff members.

Megaspeed, the largest purchaser of Nvidia chips in south-east Asia, is facing scrutiny as the Nvidia scandal prompts concerns that high-end AI chips may have reached China in violation of US export bans. On Sunday, the Singapore-based firm announced it had initiated an internal investigation into its operations. The company stated it was aware of reports "containing assertions about our business, supply chain and global operations that are not supported by verifiable evidence". It further noted that it "conducts legitimate and lawful business" and has "retained external legal counsel to conduct a thorough internal investigation".

On Friday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticised the commerce department, led by his Trump cabinet colleague Howard Lutnick, for failing to adequately monitor the export of advanced chips. Speaking to CNBC, Bessent mentioned that several agencies "were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months... but Commerce has the pen... and you will have to ask them about their internal process". The entity list serves to limit US trade with foreign companies and individuals.

Lutnick is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month regarding his department's part in permitting Nvidia to export its sophisticated chips. Additionally, various congressional committees have requested that Lutnick and his department preserve all records concerning Nvidia and Jensen Huang. Megaspeed is suspected of providing Chinese companies with backdoor access to Nvidia chips through data centres located in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.