Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had been introduced to an alleged Chinese spy mistress by the woman's own husband, who appeared to have accepted the affair, according to a new report.
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who → introduce → report
Huang, 63, confessed in a memo to his staff on Sunday to carrying out an affair with a Chinese entrepreneur who has been under investigation for allegedly passing information to Beijing.
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who → confess → Beijing
He has since stepped down from his position at the head of Nvidia, which is the global market leader for the production of AI chips.
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which → step → chips
But it has now been revealed that the married American-Taiwanese businessman was first introduced to the alleged spy, Alice Huang, of no familial relation, through his business connection with her husband, Kang Wei.
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businessman → reveal → husband
When the two later became intimate, Kang, 51, seemed to accept his wife's tryst as he boasted to his colleagues and potential investors of their closeness, according to the Wall Street Journal.
At times, Kang even told associates half jokingly that his wife was a personal assistant to the Nvidia boss.
Kang and Ms Huang were then seen as a power couple in Chinese business circles, The New York Times previously reported.
Yet
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Times → become → circles
company, Megaspeed, is now being investigated by authorities in both the US and in Singapore over allegations the company smuggled billions of dollars in export-restricted Nvidia AI chips to China.
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company → investigate → China
Alice Huang, the alleged Chinese spy with whom former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair, was introduced to the AI boss by her husband Kang Wei, according to a new report.
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Huang → allege → report
The two are pictured together in 2023
Jensen Huang has admitted to having an affair with Ms Huang, and the two were photographed together on multiple occasions beginning in 2024
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two → picture → 2024
The power couple's rise began when Kang founded private equity group Shanghai Hexi Capital in 2010, and Ms Huang joined the company five years later, according to the Financial Times.
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Huang → begin → Times
By 2016, Huang and Kang started running the firm together, sources familiar with the couple told the Journal.
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sources → start → Journal
Together, they invested in a range of technology businesses, including videogames – which created an opportunity for Kang in the 2010s to meet Jensen Huang, who was then considered a rising star in Silicon Valley.
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who → invest → Valley
At the time, Nvidia was focused on developing chips for videogames, and Mr Huang met Kang in Asia, a source who worked at one of Kang's portfolio of companies and said he helped connect the two told the Journal.
But Hexi Capital faced a setback in 2018, when it was fined $2.6 million, with Kang personally fined $60,000 for disclosure violations and illegal trading during a restricted period linked to the takeover of Huiqui Technology, according to documents obtained by the New York Post.
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Kang → focus → Post
In the aftermath, Kang and Alice Huang decided to refocus their business on cloud computing, and by the early 2020s, they began building a relationship with some Chinese tech giants.
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they → decide → giants
They then landed a major project in the spring of 2020 – helping build and operate an AI computing center in Shanghai for the Internet giant Tencent.
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They → land → giant
At that point, Kang and Ms Huang acquired the Singapore unit of a videogame company in which they had previously invested – and renamed it Megaspeed International in March 2023, with Ms Huang listed as the director.
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Huang → acquire → director
Ms Huang founded Megaspeed International in 2023, which US officials say illicitly shipped Nvidia AI chips to China
Soon, the company struck up a lucrative deal with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce leader, which was reportedly looking for a partner that could help it access Nvidia chips despite US export controls that prevented the American company from selling them directly to China.
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that → found → China
Representatives from Megaspeed were then said to have brought the issue to Nvidia, telling the company that Alibaba would be an anchor customer – a big enough client to help earn Kang and Ms Huang's company priority access to chips as a 'Nvidia cloud partner' in November 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Alibaba → say → Journal
Shortly after the conversation, Alice Huang reportedly told an associate that she had gotten in touch with Jensen Huang and Megaspeed would soon start business.
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Megaspeed → tell → business
It bought many of the Nvidia servers it acquired to data centers in Malaysia and provided computing power to Alibaba.
But it also reportedly shipped some of the chips to China directly, including a Shanghai cloud-computing provider called Century Litong, owned by a Shanghai-listed company with which Kang had previously done business, the Journal reports.
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Journal → buy → business
The Nvidia chief was spotted at a computer industry trade show with Ms Huang in Taipei in 2024.
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chief → spot → 2024
Investors who were then approached by Kang and Ms Huang said the couple wound up pitching several data-center projects between late 2024 and June 2025, including two in southeast Asia and one in Shanghai.
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couple → approach → Shanghai
According to the potential investors, the duo said that investors could expect to triple their money in three years, as they expressed confidence they had ways to bring the Nvidia chips to China.
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they → accord → China
Meanwhile, the Nvidia chief was spotted at a computer industry trade show with Ms Huang in Taipei in 2024.
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chief → spot → 2024
The AI boss was pictured in his trademark leather jacket, as he held court with Ms Huang and other executives in the bar.
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he → picture → bar
On another trip to Taipei in May 2025, Huang was again seen with Ms Huang at a dinner, where they were spotted kissing on the cheek and sharing touches on the arm, per the Wall Street Journal.
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they → see → Journal
In other images that have been unearthed following the scandal, the Nvidia CEO and alleged Chinese spy were seen raising wine glasses in a toast and sharing a smiling picture sat next to each other at other points during their relationship.
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CEO → unearth → relationship
Ms Huang reportedly said she had gotten Mr Huang's approval before Megaspeed started its shipping operations
Photos show her cuddled up next to the 63-year-old tech CEO, raising wine glasses in a toast and sitting next to one another smiling
Back in the United States, meanwhile, officials were briefed that Ms Huang was working for Beijing's Ministry of State Security as part of an effort to learn about American-made AI chips and possibly persuade Nvidia to make its most sophisticated semiconductors available in China, according to The New York Times.
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semiconductors → say → Times
The US officials noted that the Megaspeed executive speaks English well and has relationships with executives at the highest levels of the AI chip industry.
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executive → note → industry
Separately, Washington was investigating Megaspeed over concerns it may have been involved in smuggling hardware to China – prompting the government to ask Nvidia to audit the firm last year.
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it → investigate → firm
In its initial report, the chipmaker said the hardware was fully accounted for, but records obtained by Bloomberg News show that Megaspeed had imported 50,000 more chips than Nvidia found in its data centers.
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Nvidia → say → centers
The AI chip company then pledged in December 2025 to visit Megaspeed's data centers again, but it is unclear whether that happened.
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that → pledge → centers
Both Megaspeed and Chinese officials have denied any wrongdoing, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun saying earlier this week: 'The narrative about so-called Chinese spies is entirely based on groundless speculation - it is nothing more than slander and smearing.'
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it → deny → slander
Megaspeed has also said it operates 'fully within the bounds of all applicable export control regulations' and upholds the highest standards of legal conduct.
But Jensen Huang has since agreed to testify before Congress at some point before Thanksgiving as he announced on Thursday that he was resigning as the CEO, according to House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast.
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he → say → Mast
Huang resigned from his position as CEO of the company he founded on Thursday
Colette Kress, who has been with Nvidia since 2013, has been appointed as interim CEO
'Jensen's contributions to Nvidia are profound,' the company wrote in a press release announcing his resignation.
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company → resign → resignation
The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.
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Board → thank → company
Chief financial officer Colette Kress, who has worked at Nvidia since 2013, will take the reins on an interim basis as it looks to appoint a permanent successor.
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it → work → successor
Kress has served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer since joining the company in September 2013.
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Kress → serve → September
'Nvidia's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,' Kress said in the press release announcing her temporary appointment.
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Kress → come → appointment
'We will continue advancing the work that has made NVIDIA a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead.
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NVIDIA → continue → opportunities
'Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.'
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focus → remain → customers
The Aporia
