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The New York Times reported that US officials identified Huang Le, a Chinese female executive who has close contacts with Huang Renxun, who collects intelligence for Beijing. Huida denied that sensitive information had been leaked and said the relevant conversations were normal business dealings.
The New York Times exclusively reports today that US authorities have identified an individual linked to an artificial intelligence (AI) chip maker.Huida (Nvidia, also translated NVIDIA) CEOJen-Hsun Huang A close Chinese female senior executive briefed Beijing; A Huida spokesperson responded that Huang Renxun’s conversation with the executive was not unusual and that customers would not receive sensitive business secrets or information related to national security.
The New York Times reported that a female senior executive at Singapore data center company MegaSpeed was suspected of transferring Huida’s advanced AI chips to China. US officials have now concluded that he was a Chinese intelligence asset, passing information to Beijing.
The name of this Chinese senior executive is Huang Le (transliteration), also known as Alice Huang. Her surveillance shows that she has a close relationship with Huang Renxun.
Nearly a year ago, President Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings, but chose to take no action. Trump has been reluctant to affect Huida’s chip sales because it helps boost the economy and stock market, and he does not want to further complicate US-China trade relations.
US officials previously suspected that Huang Le helped China avoid sanctions to obtain advanced AI chips. The revelation that he provided intelligence directly to Beijing raises more troubling possibilities, including that Huang may have deep knowledge of Trump’s thinking on issues important to both the United States and China, which could also be brought to the fore when Trump visits China next month.
People familiar with the surveillance operation said Huang had not yet received a defensive briefing. The United States sometimes uses these briefings to warn Americans of targets by foreign intelligence agencies.
He said US authorities continued to monitor Huang Le and companies related to him continued to buy Huida chips this year.
Huida said MegaSpeed is like any other regional customer and Huida has previously investigated and refuted claims of the company smuggling chips into China.
Huida spokesman John Rizzo said the conversation between Huang and Huang was “not unusual or unexpected.” Meeting customers is part of the CEO’s job, and Huang talks to thousands of senior executives at customers every year.
Li Zhuo also said that Huida believes that if the US government feels that anyone is a threat to US industry, it will “notify us.” Customers like MegaSpeed received “general business information, not sensitive HUDA trade secrets, and no information related to national security.”
The White House, the CIA and the National Security Agency declined to comment. MegaSpeed said in a statement to The New York Times that it has hired outside lawyers to conduct a thorough internal investigation and has informed the US government of its full cooperation with the investigation.
Huang Le did not respond to a request for comment. A person familiar with MegaSpeed’s operations said she became less active in the company following the US investigation.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States responded that the United States was launching a “baseless slander and defamation” campaign against China.
The New York Times reported that when Trump received his first intelligence briefing last year, US officials did not believe that Huang Renxun knew that Huang Le was gathering intelligence for China. It is unclear whether intelligence officials have updated their assessment since then, but some senior Trump administration officials have wondered whether Huang is still unaware of what they believe was his role in gathering intelligence for China.
During Trump’s second presidential term, Huang successfully lobbied Washington to loosen regulations on AI companies and lift tight restrictions on Huida chip sales to China.
