What Did Trump Admin Know About Nvidia Spy Claims? Unanswered Questions

The controversy surrounding Nvidia chipmaker and CEO Jensen Huang's alleged extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese national, has intensified. Alice Huang, who is not related to Jensen, worked as a former executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company that purchased Nvidia chips until mid-2025. American intelligence officials have raised concerns that Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) for espionage purposes.

Federal authorities are investigating the affair, and Nvidia has launched its own probe with the help of one of the country's largest law firms. Meanwhile, the company and its CEO are facing shareholder-led litigation alleging that they concealed the affair, potentially inflating Nvidia's stock price. The situation raises questions about what government officials may have known prior to the matter becoming public, and how they attempted to prevent potential national security risks.

Sources familiar with the matter tell Axios that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick was informed of Jensen Huang's extramarital relationship before it became widely reported. Lutnick, who oversees trade restrictions and export controls, allegedly received a classified memo based on surveillance of Alice Huang and a probe into Megaspeed. This memo was sent ahead of President Trump's state visit to China in mid-May, coinciding with the department's approval of advanced Nvidia chip sales to 10 Chinese companies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw the drafting and circulation of the highly classified memo, informing the president that Jensen Huang had a close relationship with Alice Huang. The Nvidia CEO accompanied Trump on his state visit to China. When questioned about the allegations, Trump stated he was first briefed about the relationship around a year ago and discussed it with Rubio prior to the China trip in May.