$4.8 billion in Nvidia chips flow through Singapore firm linked to suspected Chinese spy

A Singaporean data center firm purchased $4.8 billion worth of advanced AI equipment between June 2024 and February 2026.

Trade records obtained by The New York Times show that Megaspeed’s sister company in Malaysia bought the hardware, which contained Nvidia chips. For a small and obscure company, that spending was exceptional. US officials believe Megaspeed acts as a middleman, buying chips from the American arm of Inspur, a Chinese server maker, and then renting the computing power to Chinese clients like Alibaba.

The firm’s operations became the center of a US intelligence assessment. Officials concluded that Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and top executive at Megaspeed, is a Chinese intelligence asset. She allegedly funneled information to Beijing about how to steer advanced Nvidia chips to China. Surveillance revealed that Huang had developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia.

White House officials were alarmed by the direct access Huang had to one of the most powerful figures in the AI sector. Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago but did not act. He was wary of disrupting Nvidia’s chip sales, which drive the US economy, and of complicating trade relations with China. The US has not previously reported that Jensen Huang received a defensive briefing, a warning often given to Americans targeted by foreign intelligence services.

Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo stated that interactions between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang are part of a CEO’s job. "Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year," Rizzo said. Nvidia maintains that Megaspeed receives ordinary business information and zero information relevant to national security. The company previously investigated and debunked claims that Megaspeed was smuggling chips to China.

The relationship between the US president and Jensen Huang has influenced how Washington handles chip exports. Officials said the close tie has impeded efforts to clamp down on Nvidia’s sales abroad, causing some investigations to stall within the Commerce Department. Jensen Huang has lobbied to loosen regulations on AI companies and negotiated a deal allowing the US government to take a 25 percent stake in certain chips sold to China.

Megaspeed said its current leadership is conducting a thorough internal investigation with outside counsel. The company continues to list Nvidia as a cloud partner, and its Indonesian branch described itself as a premier business partner in a job ad this month. US officials believe the firm is part of a larger international effort by Chinese companies to access chips needed for AI development.