Culper linked Nvidia CEO to suspected Chinese spy six months earlier

By Olivia Hart

Culper Research’s May 13 report called Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang “uncomfortably close” six months before the scandal over suspected Chinese espionage emerged.

The New York-based short seller had raised questions about the pair while investigating Megaspeed’s ties to Nvidia. Culper’s report concerned Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys Nvidia chips, and its executive Alice Huang. U.S. intelligence officials now suspect her of being a Chinese spy.

What did Culper flag before the scandal?

Culper’s report resurfaced because it had picked up on the two executives’ connection during its investigation of Megaspeed. It said the Nvidia CEO had been spotted partying and socializing with Alice Huang on multiple occasions. The report also said some Nvidia employees wondered whether they had a “special relationship.”

Nvidia has since opened a formal investigation into Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang. Jensen Huang admitted over the weekend to an extramarital affair. Alice Huang shares his surname but is not related to him.

Takeaway: Culper had identified the pair’s unusually close contact before the suspected espionage allegations emerged.

What do U.S. intelligence officials allege?

U.S. intelligence officials believe the Chinese government recruited Alice Huang to collect intelligence on Jensen Huang. They also believe she was recruited to influence his position on U.S. export controls for advanced AI chips.

The allegation remains unadjudicated; no indictment or court ruling was cited. The intelligence assessment also carries no public substantiation in the available account.

Takeaway: The export-control angle raises the stakes, but the reported intelligence belief remains unverified.

What do Megaspeed’s finances show?

Culper theorized that the China business Nvidia lost to export controls had been rerouted through Southeast Asia. It described Megaspeed as a major chip buyer in the region. It also alleged that Chinese technology giant Alibaba secretly financed Megaspeed through shell companies.

Culper pointed to financial records showing Megaspeed’s total liabilities and equity growing from $33 million at the end of 2023 to about $3 billion by the end of 2024. The combined liabilities-and-equity total rose by roughly $2.97 billion, or about 91 times its 2023 level. Much of the increase came in the form of refundable deposits from an unidentified source.

The Financial Times reported Monday that documents show Alibaba lent money to Megaspeed through subsidiaries. That supports the existence of Alibaba-linked financing, but it does not prove Culper’s broader theory that Nvidia’s lost China business was rerouted through Southeast Asia. The records still leave the ultimate source of the refundable deposits unclear.

Takeaway: The documented financing and rapid balance-sheet growth justify scrutiny, but they do not establish illegal chip diversion.

How much weight should investors place on Culper?

Culper is a short seller, so it stood to benefit financially if its allegations hurt Nvidia or Megaspeed. Its allegations about possible illegal chip diversion have not been independently verified. The report is available on the web and was posted to X in May.

That incentive requires caution, but it does not nullify the financial records cited by Culper or the Financial Times’ finding that documents showed Alibaba loans. The evidence still needs to connect the unidentified deposits to diverted Nvidia chips, and the reporting still needs to substantiate Alice Huang’s alleged intelligence role. A large balance sheet alone establishes neither.

Takeaway: Culper’s financial interest warrants caution, while its cited records remain verifiable evidence.

What comes next?

Nvidia’s investigation may establish what the company can verify about Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang. The lending documents cited by the Financial Times and any further disclosure of Megaspeed’s depositors could help distinguish ordinary commercial financing from concealed support for chip diversion.

Three questions remain:

• Who supplied Megaspeed’s refundable deposits?
• Did Megaspeed handle Nvidia chips diverted in violation of U.S. export controls?
• Can evidence substantiate Alice Huang’s alleged Chinese intelligence role?

Verification on those points would determine how much of Culper’s case rests on documented financing rather than inference.