/file/attachments/orphans/PresidentandCEOofNVIDIAJensenHuang1011261_233320.jpg)
How is Malaysia linked to Nvidia spy affair scandal?
Over the Deepavali weekend, news emerged that the CEO of American tech giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang, had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
Beyond the cheating and espionage, there were allegations that the purported spy, Alice Huang - no family relation to Jensen - is linked to a business operating out of Singapore and Malaysia that is suspected of circumventing US sanctions on AI-chip exports to China.
Over the Deepavali weekend, news emerged that the CEO of American tech giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang, had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
Beyond the cheating and espionage, there were allegations that the purported spy, Alice Huang - no family relation to Jensen - is linked to a business operating out of Singapore and Malaysia that is suspected of circumventing US sanctions on AI-chip exports to China.
The allegations, which the US is still investigating, could hamper Putrajaya’s efforts to improve trade ties with Washington amid the latter’s ongoing trade war with China.
In August, the US classified Malaysia as a Tier 2 risk for illegal transhipment involving China-linked goods.
What happened?
The allegations that Jensen had an affair with Alice, and that she was a purported Chinese spy, were reported two weeks ago by the New York Times.
At the time, Nvidia appeared to deny the allegations and said the interactions between the two were “not unusual”. It also said that a company Alice was tied to, Singapore-based Megaspeed International, had received “zero information relevant to (US) national security”.
However, on Sunday, Jensen admitted to his company that he had been unfaithful to his wife, prompting Nvidia to launch an investigation.
/file/attachments/orphans/4533453535_644396.jpg "President and CEO of NVIDIA Jensen Huang with wife Lori 101126")
How is Malaysia involved?
The allegations involving Malaysia revolve around Megaspeed and its wholly-owned Malaysian subsidiary Speedmatrix Sdn Bhd.
Alice is said to have been a top executive at Megaspeed - which itself was rebranded from a subsidiary of a Chinese gaming company - and reportedly still had ties with the company after she resigned in late 2023.
Megaspeed became an Nvidia official cloud computing partner in 2023. Between June 2024 and February this year, the company is reported to have bought US$4.8 billion (RM19.5 billion) in Nvidia AI chips. The purchases began just weeks after Jensen and Huang were first photographed together.
/file/attachments/orphans/PresidentandCEOofNVIDIAJensenHuang1011262_161229.jpg "President and CEO of NVIDIA Jensen Huang had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang 101126")
According to NYT, these chips were exported to data centres in Malaysia and Indonesia that appeared to serve customers in China. This could be in violation of US trade sanctions if it were done at the behest of a Chinese company.
In October last year, an NYT report also detailed how a US trade official who visited a data centre run by Speedmatrix found boxes of unopened Nvidia AI chips.
The report, citing officials familiar with the inspections, said there were suspicions that the chips were intended to be sent back to China, but that it did not have conclusive evidence at the time.
It also said that such concerns were relayed to authorities in Singapore and Malaysia.
In a response to the NYT in its report last year, the Investment, Trade, and Industry Ministry told the US news outlet that Malaysia had strengthened oversight of AI chip exports while maintaining active dialogue with the US about its controls.
/file/attachments/orphans/sdsd_948061.jpg "Megaspeed International company generic 101126")
Meanwhile, Megaspeed, in a statement last December responding to a similar Bloomberg investigation into its operations, said that it had been inspected by a US official, the Investment, Trade, and Industry Ministry, and Nvidia, and that no evidence was found that it was involved in the illicit trade of chips or involved in other illegal activities.
What’s next?
A probe by the US Department of Commerce into Megaspeed has been transferred to the US Department of Justice for further investigation.
US President Donald Trump has announced that the FBI will be investigating Jensen’s affair with Alice.
In response to queries from Malaysiakini today, Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said that to date, the ministry has not been presented with any evidence that Speedmatrix has contravened Malaysian law.
As such, the ministry has not commenced any investigation against the company.
"Nevertheless, the ministry's position is clear. Malaysia will not allow itself to be used as a channel to circumvent export controls, and the government will not hesitate to act firmly against any company found to have violated Malaysian law.
"Should credible evidence or a formal request from any foreign authority be received, it will be assessed and acted upon in accordance with our laws and processes," Johari said.
Jensen Huang has publicly admitted to the extramarital affairs but some people have already jumped into various conclusions about the Chinese spy allegation before the FBI investigation. The allegations were leaked to the New York Times and published 4 days before the midterm elections and 3 weeks before APEC Summit in Shenzhen where a trilateral summit between Xi, Trump and Putin is expected to take place. Maybe the spy allegation is true, maybe not. Obviously the leakers don't have the evidence as otherwise they would have sought to arrest or extradite the alleged Chinese spy, instead of simply leaking the allegations to the news media. This could well be another Lee Wen Ho case. In 1996 the FBI launched an investigation into Dr Lee when he was falsely accused of leaking classified US nuclear secrets to China. Lee was singled out and racially profiled as the sole suspect despite a lack of conclusive evidence that he had acted as a spy. The US government's espionage case collapsed in September 2000. The presiding federal judge severely rebuked the executive branch and the prosecution for misleading the court and subjecting Lee to abusive treatment. Lee's case was similarly started by media leaks to outlets like the New York Times.
Happened in Johor ? No problem bro. Come here for the trial, get convicted and sentenced, then apply for House Arrest, live in Bangalow at JB, can travel across causeway for luxury life, money can find the ways.
It is not surprising that Jensen has been having this mistress for sometime now as it is not uncommon for these tycoons to have this kind of lifestyle. What is surprising is that for a man this smart, he did not see that this woman is a Chinese spy, if this story is true. For Jensen and others who are involved in these kinds of critical and sensitive industries, it is very important to be extra careful who they associate themselves with. For Malaysia (and also Singapore), this story exposes a very big loop hole that the US and other Western governments have always been alleging about these countries being a conduit for illegal sale and also smuggling of highly sensitive technologies and products to China and their other adversaries. If this story turns out to be true, Malaysia better be prepared for another backlash from the US. Trump has always been looking to blame other countries for all his shortcomings and this will provide him an excuse to impose more tariffs and sanctions on Malaysia.
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