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A top executive at a Singapore-based data centre firm named Megaspeed faced intense scrutiny over potential involvement in diverting advanced Nvidia AI chips towards China, as outlined in a report by The New York Times. US authorities reportedly determined that she operated as a Chinese intelligence asset, transmitting information back to Beijing.
According to the report, surveillance of the executive, identified as Chinese national Alice Huang or Huang Le, revealed that she maintained a close association with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. In what the publication described as a startling revelation, the report indicated that President Donald Trump had received briefings regarding the intelligence findings but opted against taking action. He remained cautious about disrupting Nvidia's chip sales, which continue to bolster economic growth and equity markets, and introducing further friction into commercial ties with Beijing. Washington has consistently sought to prevent China from acquiring the technology necessary to match or surpass American capabilities in artificial intelligence. The discovery that Beijing was receiving information from an individual with direct access to Jensen Huang, who also maintains an alliance with President Trump, sparked major concerns within the White House. The Nvidia chief executive successfully lobbied the administration during Trump's second term to reverse stricter export controls governing the company's chip shipments to China. He also finalised a deal with Trump permitting the US government to secure a 25 per cent stake in specific Nvidia processors authorised for sale to China. As the Trump administration considered a comprehensive ban on Nvidia chip exports to China, Huang and his spouse travelled to Mar-a-Lago to persuade Trump to allow technology firms to continue doing business with Beijing. Nvidia subsequently contributed upwards of USD 20 million towards Trump's ballroom fund, according to an individual familiar with the matter. The company also committed to spending USD 500 billion on domestic manufacturing infrastructure in the US. The account of Alice Huang's operations is based on discussions with sources briefed on the surveillance efforts who spoke anonymously. The report noted that surveillance targeting Alice Huang continued and that enterprises previously linked to her had continued procuring Nvidia chips throughout the current year. Nvidia asserted that it had previously dismissed allegations that Megaspeed was involved in smuggling chips to China. John Rizzo, a spokesperson for Nvidia, noted that clients such as Megaspeed "receive ordinary business information - not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets - and zero information relevant to national security". Megaspeed is among the companies that purchase processors to build data centres before leasing computing capacity to enterprises operating within China. The White House, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency declined to comment. Alice Huang did not respond to inquiries seeking comment. In a statement to The New York Times, Megaspeed indicated that its "current leadership" treats the situation "extremely seriously and is committed to getting to the facts behind allegations". Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, stated that the US was pursuing a campaign of "groundless smears and slanders" directed at Beijing. (ANI)
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