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Report Alleges $7.5 Billion of Nvidia Chips Reached China — Through the CEO's Own Affair

Trending Now • 12 November 2026 • 4 min read

Nvidia's headquarters building in Santa Clara, California

Photo: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

TL;DR — the direct answer: A new investigation alleges that Alice Huang — the businesswoman at the centre of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's admitted affair — helped move at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips to Chinese firms since 2023. The report, published by The Information on Tuesday, 10 November, is the most serious claim yet in a scandal that has already wiped hundreds of billions off Nvidia's value.

What happened: The Information reported on Tuesday, citing two acquaintances of Alice Huang, that she used her personal relationship with Jensen Huang to help reroute and ship at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips to Chinese companies. The chips — about 240,000 H100, H200 and A100 units, the high-end processors used to train AI models — are subject to US export controls that bar their sale to China. The report describes a network of companies built with her husband and sister, centred on Shanghai Century Litong, a data-centre operator founded in June 2023, and Singapore-based Megaspeed, which Alice Huang formerly ran. Century Litong gained Nvidia 'preferred cloud partner' status in October 2023, giving it priority access to chips. The computing power was supplied to Alibaba and Tencent as well as smaller Chinese AI firms, according to the report.

Why it's trending: The claim connects the two halves of the Nvidia scandal — the personal and the commercial — for the first time. Jensen Huang admitted on Sunday, 8 November, in a company email, that he had an affair with Alice Huang, who US officials have identified as a suspected Chinese intelligence recruit. Nvidia's board has launched an internal investigation, and the FBI is reportedly examining whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The shares fell 5.5% on Tuesday to $168.89, a second straight heavy loss that wiped roughly $430 billion of market value in two days, before rebounding 2.9% on Wednesday. Separately, Reuters reported that about 600,000 advanced Nvidia chips are sitting in Hong Kong awaiting onward shipment to mainland China, and that a Chinese university on the US trade blacklist bought two H200 chips last month through a local supplier.

Background / context: The export controls are the centre of the story. The US government has barred the export of Nvidia's most powerful AI chips to China since 2022, tightening the rules repeatedly, because the chips can train the advanced AI systems Washington considers a national security risk. Megaspeed was already under suspicion: Bloomberg reported in December 2025 that it had imported $4.6 billion worth of Nvidia chips since 2023, and both the US and Singaporean governments have launched separate investigations into whether it smuggled chips from South-East Asia to China. The New York Times reported Megaspeed faced allegations of funnelling around $2 billion in chips to China in 2025. The new report raises the alleged total to $7.5 billion — and ties it directly to the chief executive.

What we know / what's unconfirmed: Confirmed: the existence of The Information's report, the board investigation, the FBI interest, the share moves, and the earlier Bloomberg and Times reporting on Megaspeed. Reuters said it could not independently verify the $7.5 billion figure, and Nvidia did not respond to the report. No finding of any export-control violation has been made, and neither report establishes that any rule was broken. The board has backed Huang, with independent directors and outside counsel running the review, and has said it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. The affair itself is background, not evidence: the claim rests on corporate relationships and shipping records, not on the relationship alone.

What happens next: Nvidia reports third-quarter results on 17 November — the next hard test for a stock that has lost about a tenth of its value in two sessions. The board review continues, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already questioned why Megaspeed is not on the US entity list, which would blacklist it from American trade. If investigators find evidence that Nvidia or its distributors knowingly helped bypass export restrictions, the company could face regulatory consequences. Until then, the $7.5 billion figure remains an allegation — but it is one the market is now pricing in.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What does the report allege?
A: That Alice Huang helped move at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips — about 240,000 H100, H200 and A100 units — to Chinese firms since 2023, using a network of companies in China and Singapore.

Q: Has the $7.5 billion figure been verified?
A: No. Reuters said it could not independently verify it, and Nvidia did not respond to the report. No finding of an export-control violation has been made.

Q: Who is Alice Huang?
A: The former CEO of Singapore-based Megaspeed, identified by US officials as a suspected Chinese intelligence recruit. Jensen Huang admitted an affair with her in a company email on Sunday, 8 November.

Q: What is Nvidia's board doing?
A: Independent directors, working with outside counsel, are running a review into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The board has backed him and says it has no reason to believe secrets were compromised.

Q: When does Nvidia report results?
A: Nvidia reports third-quarter results on 17 November 2026.

Sources: TipRanks — Nvidia Faces Fresh Scrutiny Over $7.5 Billion in China Chip Shipments, Daily Caller — Jensen Huang's Mistress Allegedly Helped Move More Than $7 Billion In Nvidia Chips To China, and TradingView / Seeking Alpha — Chinese university on US blacklist bought Nvidia H200 AI chips: report.

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