U.S. officials previously determined that Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, who was close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather intelligence on AI chips. Three House committee chairs have written to Jensen Huang, asking him to give a closed-door briefing on November 18. Both Nvidia and Beijing have denied the allegations. (Previously: Jensen Huang swept up in “Chinese beauty spy” storm! NYT says U.S. had been monitoring her for a long time, Trump was informed but took no action) (Background: Nvidia reportedly asks cloud customers not to sell at least 51% of services under new contracts to Chinese companies) Key points NYT report on November 6 says Alice Huang was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security Three House committee chairs want Jensen Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18 Megaspeed bought billions of dollars’ worth of chips and rents computing capacity to Alibaba United States (New York Times) — On November 6 (U.S. Eastern Time), the New York Times reported that U.S. officials had determined Alice Huang (Huang Le) was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. She is a senior executive at Singaporean data center operator Megaspeed and is close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Citing people familiar with U.S. surveillance briefings, the report said she got close to Jensen Huang to gather intelligence on U.S. AI chips. Her handlers also hoped to encourage Nvidia to sell its most advanced chips to China. These claims came from anonymous sources, and the U.S. government has not made public any evidence. There is also no indication that Alice Huang has been charged. Before the report was published, three Republican chairs of U.S. House committees had jointly written to Jensen Huang on November 4. They want him to attend a closed-door briefing in Congress on November 18. NYT says she worked directly for the Ministry of State Security The NYT first reported on October 29 that U.S. intelligence agencies had monitored Alice Huang for at least a year. Trump was briefed last year about her relationship with Jensen Huang, but took no action. The new information is that U.S. officials determined she worked directly for the Ministry of State Security, a detail the NYT said had not previously been reported. The report said Alice Huang and Jensen Huang are not related. She has many connections among senior figures in the AI chip industry, including Jensen Huang and executives at Gigabyte. Gigabyte is one of the main assemblers of Nvidia supercomputers. She has also attended industry conferences and private dinners attended only by executives. Megaspeed began purchasing billions of dollars’ worth of advanced AI chips around 2024. Many people in the industry did not understand why the company suddenly made a major push into AI. The NYT said Megaspeed is connected to a group of companies and investors based in Shanghai and Zhejiang. Through their relationships with local Shanghai officials, these businesses shifted from mobile games to data centers. Megaspeed is building data centers in Southeast Asia and then renting computing capacity to Alibaba. The U.S. does not allow Nvidia to sell advanced chips directly to China. The NYT noted that this arrangement allows Chinese companies to access these chips indirectly. The report also said the network invested in a cybersecurity unit under China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, which has financial ties to China’s military system. The Ministry of State Security was established in 1983. After Xi Jinping took power in 2012, its budget increased and the agency expanded. The NYT cited researchers as saying that it is now several times the size of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Three committee chairs want Jensen Huang to appear on November 18 The three signatories are House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Chair John Moolenaar, and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford. The Foreign Affairs Committee released a news statement on November 5, making the letter public. The letter asks Jensen Huang to attend a joint closed-door briefing with the three committees at Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building on November 18. The briefing has two topics: Nvidia’s security measures to prevent espionage by foreign adversaries, and his relationship with Alice Huang. The three chairs ask him to confirm the date by November 11 or propose another day when Congress is in session. The letter states: “Recent reporting has raised significant national security concerns involving China’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and information.” It also says: “Congress must determine the extent to which U.S. national security has been compromised.” According to Bloomberg, the Foreign Affairs Committee oversees AI chip sales, and Brian Mast has long disagreed with Nvidia over export controls. This year, he advanced the AI Overwatch Act, which would allow Congress to review exports of advanced AI chips in the same way it reviews arms sales. Democrats won both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. When the new Congress takes office in January, all three committees will be led by Democrats. Nvidia and Beijing deny the allegations An Nvidia spokesperson told Bloomberg that Jensen Huang speaks with “thousands” of customers each year. The spokesperson said: “We trust that if the U.S. government believes anyone poses a threat to American industry, it will inform us.” In a Bloomberg interview on October 29, Jensen Huang said that his interactions with Alice Huang were all related to Megaspeed’s business and were “completely normal and not unusual.” He said Nvidia had audited the GPUs deployed by Megaspeed and confirmed that none had been illegally shipped to China. He also said Alice Huang no longer worked at Megaspeed and that the U.S. government had not informed him of any concerns about her. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on October 30 that the reports were “based on groundless speculation and are purely an attempt to smear China.” As of the morning of November 7, Taiwan time, there was no public response from Jensen Huang on whether he would attend the November 18 briefing. Frequently asked questions Why has Jensen Huang been asked by the U.S. Congress to give a closed-door briefing? On November 4, three House committee chairs wrote to him, asking him to explain Nvidia’s counterespionage measures and his interactions with Alice Huang on November 18. What is Megaspeed, and how is it connected to Nvidia? Megaspeed is a Singaporean data center operator. According to the NYT, it bought billions of dollars’ worth of AI chips around 2024 and rents computing capacity to Alibaba. Related coverage U.S. plans new rules to bar Chinese cloud providers from renting AI computing capacity in third countries such as Thailand and Singapore Taiwan NVIDIA and Supermicro employees indicted! Accused of conspiring to smuggle 74 AI servers to China Former OpenAI and Anthropic researchers: It is almost certain that Chinese spies have infiltrated these two major AI companies This article, “A ‘beautiful Chinese spy’ appears in Jensen Huang’s orbit? U.S. Congress wants him to ‘explain behind closed doors,’” was first published by BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media outlet).