Nvidia CEO’s affair with alleged spy aided $7.5 billion in China chip shipments, Information reports

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to be a spy for Beijing facilitated the shipment of at least $7.5 billion worth of the company’s chips to Chinese firms, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing two people who know her.

Alice Huang, along with her husband and sister, built a network of companies across China and Singapore to acquire Nvidia chips, according to the report.

At the center of the network was Shanghai Century Litong, a China-based company founded in June 2023 that secured preferred cloud partner status with Nvidia by October, giving it priority access to the company’s chips, The Information reported.

When orders for Nvidia chips subject to US export restrictions stalled, Alice Huang used ties to Nvidia and its distributors to secure supplies, helping move about 240,000 H100, H200 and some A100 chips into China, according to the report.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alibaba, Tencent, Megaspeed and Shanghai Century Litong were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

The chipmaker’s shares closed down more than 4% on Monday after its board launched an internal investigation into whether 63-year-old Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The FBI is also looking into the matter.

Huang told Nvidia employees he had been unfaithful to his wife, without providing details of the relationship.