Nvidia rejects report that Jensen Huang was target of Chinese spy plot

Nvidia on Thursday, 29 October 2026, rejected a US newspaper report that American intelligence agencies had watched a former executive of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company and Nvidia customer, on suspicion that she was gathering information for China, including through her contact with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. The report relied on unnamed sources and no charges have been reported. China's Foreign Ministry called the report "based on groundless speculation", and Mr Huang said Nvidia had checked Megaspeed's use of its chips.

Nvidia makes the graphics processing units, or GPUs, that power most of the world's large artificial intelligence systems. Because these chips are so important, the United States restricts which advanced models can be sold to China, and it has investigated whether some buyers outside China were reselling restricted chips to Chinese companies. Megaspeed was one company examined over such concerns in 2025, according to reports, though Nvidia says those diversion allegations were cleared.

The new report goes further, suggesting that someone close to Nvidia's chief executive may have been gathering information on the company's plans and on its efforts to persuade Washington to allow more chip sales to China. That is a serious claim, but it rests on unnamed officials, and it is denied by Nvidia and by Beijing. US officials reportedly did not believe Mr Huang knew of any information gathering, and one report said the government had not briefed Nvidia about the executive.

The episode lands at a sensitive time for the chip industry. Nvidia has been arguing for wider access to the Chinese market, while US lawmakers have pressed for tighter controls. Any suggestion that the company's leadership was a target of foreign intelligence is likely to add to that debate, regardless of what the investigation found.

For India, which is building its own AI computing capacity with imported GPUs, the story is a reminder of how closely chip sales are now tied to national security. Rules on who can buy advanced chips, and how their use is checked, shape where AI data centres can be built and at what cost.

Short-term: Nvidia faces fresh questions from lawmakers and investors about its dealings with customers in Asia, at a time when its China sales are already under political scrutiny.

Long-term: The case may strengthen calls in Washington for tighter checks on where advanced AI chips end up, which could affect how Nvidia and other chipmakers sell to data-centre operators across Asia.

Who is affected: Nvidia and its customers, especially data-centre companies in South-East Asia; US and Chinese officials handling chip export rules; and countries such as India that rely on imported AI chips.

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