Donald Trump was reportedly briefed a year ago that a suspected Chinese spy was close to Nvidia's CEO, but why was Jensen Huang never told?

US President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed by intelligence officials around a year ago about Alice Huang, a Chinese woman suspected of having links to China's intelligence agency. The brief reportedly included information about her close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Despite receiving the intelligence assessment, Trump reportedly did not take action. Jensen Huang was not informed by US authorities that the woman he had interacted with was suspected of spying for China.

What had US intelligence discovered about Alice Huang?

Alice Huang worked as a senior executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed International. US intelligence officials reportedly suspected that she was working for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). The agency is China's principal civilian intelligence service.

Officials suspected she was gathering information about Nvidia and its advanced AI chips and sharing it with Beijing. Her position at Megaspeed reportedly gave her access to Nvidia's business ecosystem because the company purchased its AI processors for data centre operations. Intelligence officials were also concerned about the possibility of restricted Nvidia chips reaching China through business networks.

How did she become connected to Jensen Huang?

According to media reports, US intelligence believes Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). Alice had developed a close professional relationship with Jensen through her work in the AI and data centre industry. Their alleged relationship attracted intelligence attention because Nvidia's technology is central to the US-China competition over artificial intelligence.

ALSO READ: From TV journalist to private banker to AI chip executive: The unusual career of Alice Huang, the alleged spy linked to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Who is Alice Huang?

Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen whose reported career spans TV journalism, banking, investment management and AI infrastructure. She became the subject of US intelligence scrutiny because of her reported connections with Huang and her position in the AI computing industry. According to reports, Alice Huang began her career in TV journalism. She reportedly worked for Hunan TV and China Central Television (CCTV). She then moved into banking, reportedly working as an assistant to the president of HSBC's private banking division. She later joined CITIC Securities, a major Chinese financial services company, where she reportedly held a vice-president position.

Why was Jensen Huang not informed?

US authorities reputedly did not give Jensen Huang a defensive briefing about Alice Huang's suspected intelligence connections. The decision to not inform him has become a big question in the controversy. It remains unclear why Jensen was not informed about this and was the information deliberately withheld to protect an ongoing intelligence operation.