FBI Opens Espionage Probe Into Alice Huang’s China Chip Network

Elena Vasquez

BEIJING — The FBI is investigating Alice Huang on espionage charges, a probe confirmed by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on the 12th. At a press conference, Blanche said the department was “looking into the allegations and has not reached any conclusions.”

Asked whether the FBI was investigating Huang on espionage charges, he answered “of course” and said the Justice Department was also examining and reviewing the matter. Huang is suspected of spying for China and alleged to have belonged to a semiconductor-focused unit within China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s top intelligence agency.

The case could widen into what Business Insider called a “Jensen Huang gate.” Taiwan and Malaysia, where companies linked to Huang operated, said they will join U.S. export controls.

What do U.S. authorities allege?

Reports from The New York Times and Taiwan’s Liberty Times said Huang served on a “chip team” reporting directly to Chen Yixin, China’s minister of state security. Liberty Times reported that the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee formed an “AI group” to compete with the United States in artificial intelligence.

The ministry joined that effort and created a separate team. Its alleged mission was to neutralize export controls, penetrate the “non-red supply chain” and reach U.S. decision-making structures.

A non-red supply chain excludes China. Liberty Times also reported that female operatives had infiltrated major U.S. technology companies at various levels, extending the claim beyond Huang.

The New York Times reported that the ministry recruited Huang to gather information on former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and influence his thinking on AI chip sales to China. President Donald Trump addressed the same issue in an interview on the “Straight Shooter” podcast that day.

He said the most important question was whether “the woman was a spy” and that he did not know whether that had been established. Separately, the Justice Department is investigating whether Megaspeed, a Singapore company where Huang served as an executive, was involved in an attempt to smuggle Super Micro Computer server products into China.

How might Nvidia GPUs reach Huawei?

Evidence has emerged that dealings with Huawei began around the time Huang contacted Jensen Huang. Private intelligence firm Tessari’s corporate-data analysis, released by CNBC, shows that Shanghai Hexi, a Chinese financial firm co-owned by Huang and her husband, Kang Wei, acquired a 27% stake in data-center developer Shanghai Century Longteng in 2021.

Longteng holds a 50.1% stake in Shenzhen Yifeng, a mainland Chinese data facility whose main client is Huawei Cloud. The 50.1% stake gave Longteng majority control, compared with Hexi’s 27% position. This ownership chain raises the possibility that Huawei, a target of U.S. export controls, obtained Nvidia graphics processing units through Huang.

A second possible diversion route involves Zhejiang Century Huatong Group, a core business partner of Shanghai Hexi. Huatong owns the largest stake in Longteng, in which Hexi held 27%.

Huatong began buying Nvidia GPUs in 2023, roughly matching the period when Huang and Jensen Huang were first seen together in public in late 2023. Huang is also reported to have quietly taken an equity stake in DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model developer.

Will Jensen Huang testify before Congress?

Congress plans to continue its inquiry after Jensen Huang’s resignation. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, told CNN that the former chief executive tentatively agreed the previous night to appear before key congressional committees and testify behind closed doors.