Who is Alice Huang, Chinese executive accused of spying on Nvidia CEO?

Tech executive Alice Huang is the woman accused of spying for China during an affair with Jensen Huang, head of U.S. artificial intelligence chip titan Nvidia, according to media reports. Public details are sparse about the woman, also known as Huang Le, who had reportedly been a top figure at a Singapore-based data centre company called Megaspeed International.

Here is what we know about her and the company: Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen recruited by Beijing to collect intelligence on the Nvidia boss, according to the New York Times, which first reported that Jensen Huang was the alleged target of a spy plot.

Despite their shared surname, Alice Huang is no relation to the 63-year-old Taiwanese-born head of the world’s most valuable company. The Times, citing people briefed on the surveillance, said that Alice Huang speaks good English and is well connected at the highest level of the global AI chip industry.

The sector is highly sensitive as the United States and China race to develop advanced AI systems with potential military applications. An online search brought up a short profile for Alice Huang, with her photo, on a Chinese fund database.

It listed previous jobs including at HSBC bank, and as a reporter for Chinese media outlets CCTV and Hunan TV. AFP was unable to verify the contents of the profile, or who had written it, but has attempted to contact the companies cited.

Media reports last week said they had a close relationship, and Jensen Huang told Nvidia employees on Sunday he was “deeply sorry” for being “unfaithful to my wife”. One photo from an industry party in 2024, posted on LinkedIn, appears to show the leather jacket-clad Nvidia boss sitting next to a long-haired woman in glitzy jewellery believed to be Alice Huang.

The following year, they both attended a dinner hosted by Jensen Huang at a Chinese restaurant in Taipei during Computex, the island’s top tech expo. Journalists stood outside the restaurant filming through glass windows and doors as Jensen Huang and a woman identified as Alice Huang, who was wearing a pink dress, mingled with other attendees.

At one point, Jensen Huang can be seen putting his arm around Alice Huang as she kisses him on the right cheek, press livestreams show. Alice Huang is also seen following the Nvidia chief as he re-enters the restaurant after talking to journalists outside, running her fingers down his lower back.

They later leave the restaurant in the same car. U.S. officials concluded last year that Alice Huang was targeting Jensen Huang as a spy, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. At the time, Alice Huang was said to be a top executive at data centre firm Megaspeed International, which rents out computing power to other companies to train and run AI.