China Backed Jensen Huang and Called the Espionage Scandal Slander

In an open letter on Nvidia’s website, Huang confirmed that he had been in a close relationship with a businesswoman and apologized to his wife and the company. He did not name the woman but stated his readiness to fully cooperate with the investigation.

At a briefing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun rejected the espionage claims. He called such accusations groundless and stated that they constitute slander against China.

Earlier, The New York Times, citing U.S. intelligence, reported that the woman allegedly gathered information for Beijing. According to the publication, the individual in question was Alice Huang—one of the executives at Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which works with data centers. Last year, she was also accused of illegally supplying advanced Nvidia chips to China.

Sales of Nvidia’s AI chips in China had already drawn the attention of U.S. regulators. This year, Huang secured approval from Donald Trump for H200 shipments, though Beijing has been slow to place large orders. Some of these chips have accumulated in Hong Kong, and in an August report, Nvidia described its China shipments as insignificant due to the need for Chinese authorities' approval. Previously, China had also declined to purchase the less powerful H20 chips.

George Chen, a partner at Washington-based The Asia Group, noted that the investigation should determine whether Huang was aware of potential espionage activities and whether confidential information was compromised. Nvidia’s shares fell by approximately 5% in premarket trading.