The New York Times reported on Oct. 29, per AFP and Euronews, that US intelligence officials concluded a Chinese executive close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was passing information to Beijing. The Times article is paywalled and we could not read it. No official has confirmed the conclusions on the record.

What was reported

According to Euronews and AFP accounts of the Times report, which cites anonymous US officials:

  • Officials concluded that a Chinese executive at a Singapore-based data-center company, which Nvidia's statement names as Megaspeed, had a close working relationship with Huang and was passing information to Beijing.
  • The executive was reportedly monitored over possible efforts to steer AI chips to China.
  • The Times also reported that President Trump was briefed about a year earlier and did not act.

We are not naming the executive, a private individual; we found no report of charges.

What Nvidia, China and Trump said

Nvidia told AFP on Oct. 30, per Euronews, that Huang's interactions with the executive "are not unusual or unexpected." It said regional cloud customers receive "ordinary business information," with "zero information relevant to national security."

Nvidia also said, per Euronews, that allegations that Megaspeed smuggled chips to China "were thoroughly investigated and debunked last year."

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called the report "groundless speculation" on Oct. 30, per Euronews, and "nothing more than an attempt to smear China."

Trump told reporters at his Florida residence on Oct. 31, per AFP: "I have a lot of respect for Jensen. I didn't know about the specific thing, but I hope he's going to be OK." AFP says he called Huang "brilliant" and said the US is looking into the report.

What we could not confirm

  • The Times article itself. We did not read it.
  • The intelligence conclusions. They rest on anonymous officials. We found no charges and no government statement of findings.
  • Whether any US review is under way beyond Trump's remark to reporters.

What this means for you

No source we read says this changes what Nvidia sells or what you can buy. The context is Nvidia's sales to China, which we covered separately: Chinese firms bought over 1 million Nvidia GPUs in a year, per the Financial Times via Tom's Hardware.

We also reported that China's tech giants reportedly ordered 3M+ RTX PRO 5500 cards. The RTX 5080 listing report is a separate story about US retail.