Trump’s Billionaire Pal Jensen Huang Targeted in Mystery Woman Spy Plot

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS The president kept his billionaire buddy in the dark about what intelligence officials uncovered. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images President Donald Trump ignored warnings that Nvidia’s billionaire boss had developed a close relationship with a woman intelligence officials had identified as a Chinese spy, according to a bombshell report.

Jensen Huang, a married billionaire, was allegedly targeted by Beijing operative Alice Huang, who is of no relation, in an effort to bring Nvidia chips to China in violation of U.S. policy, The New York Times reported Thursday. Despite intelligence officials’ concerns, Jensen Huang received no official intelligence warning, according to the Times.

LISA O'CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images U.S. officials had previously suspected that Alice, a top official at Singapore-based Megaspeed, was smuggling Nvidia chips to China, prompting them to surveil her, the Times reported. They eventually determined that she was a Chinese intelligence asset passing commerical information to Beijing, according to the paper.

A spokesperson for Megaspeed did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast. Meanwhile, Alice had been cozying up to Jensen, perhaps the most powerful figure in the artificial intelligence arms race. In June 2024, photos of Alice and Jensen sitting close together at a bar and drinking whiskey were shared on LinkedIn, the Times reported.

Just two weeks later, Megaspeed began purchasing chips from Nvidia. The Times also unearthed footage of Alice standing behind Jensen at a Taipei restaurant as he spoke with reporters. People who viewed Alice’s personal social media accounts told the Times that she had also shared photos of Jensen.

Huang presides over the world's most valuable company. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images When officials first briefed Trump about a year ago on Jensen’s connection to Alice, who had been under surveillance since the Biden administration suspected she had foreign ties, they did not believe Jensen was aware of her connections to Beijing.

A year later, some senior White House officials now doubt he remains in the dark, the Times reported. A spokesperson for Nvidia did not immediately respond to questions from the Daily Beast, but spokesperson John Rizzo told the Times that Nvidia is “confident that if the U.S. government believes that any person is a threat to American industry, it would let us know.” He also defended Jensen’s seemingly close relationship with Alice, adding that companies it does business with, like Megaspeed, would “receive ordinary business information — not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets — and zero information relevant to national security.” The Trump administration, and those before it, have restricted access to its advanced semiconductors for national security reasons.

But Jensen, for his part, has lobbied his ally Trump to ease some of the restrictions on sales to China. Now, officials say the administration is reconsidering the decision ahead of Trump’s visit to China next month. Nvidia pledged some $25 million for the president’s White House ballroom.