Culper Research questioned Nvidia CEO’s ties to executive suspected of Chinese espionage

Six months before the case became public, Culper Research published a report questioning the “uncomfortably close” relationship between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, which buys Nvidia chips. The short seller said the two had been seen socializing several times and theorized that Megaspeed had secretly received funding from Alibaba to reroute chips to China — allegations that have not been independently verified.

According to the report, Huang admitted to an extramarital affair and Nvidia opened a formal investigation into the relationship; U.S. intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by the Chinese government to gather intelligence on the executive and influence his position on export controls. The Financial Times reported that documents show Alibaba lent money to Megaspeed through subsidiaries. Culper Research could financially benefit from the allegations because it was betting against Nvidia’s stock.