Nvidia's Huang admits China affair as chip export curbs tighten

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang's acknowledged affair with a former Chinese executive that US intelligence believes was a honeypot operative has handed Congress the opening to tighten AI chip exports to China. Wired frames the alleged operation as a logical next target for a long-running Chinese intelligence tactic, applied this time to a leader at the forefront of artificial intelligence development.

The woman, Alice Huang (no relation), was a former managing director of Megaspeed International, a Chinese compute-rental firm that has become one of the largest buyers of Nvidia chips in Asia, with more than $4 billion in semiconductor purchases by some analyst estimates. The House Select Committee on China has described her as a "publicly reported Chinese intelligence asset."

Nvidia's denial is drawn narrowly. The company says Huang meets with thousands of customer executives annually and that such interactions involve ordinary business information rather than sensitive trade secrets or national security material. Beijing has called the US allegations "groundless smears and slanders."

Wired separately reported that Huang's team retained Heller, a crisis communications firm founded by former Schumer aide Risa Heller and known for handling public sex scandals, since at least October 2025, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Nvidia's internal communications team was told to copy Heller Inc on messaging.

On November 10, the White House signaled to Congress that it was prepared to back amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act tightening export controls on Nvidia's advanced AI chips sold to China. Huang, who has publicly called the restrictions a "mistake," has said they helped push Nvidia's share of the Chinese market from around 95% down to about 50%.