BEIJING: China on Friday hit out at reported US intelligence allegations that a suspected Chinese spy had targeted Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, dismissing the claims as “groundless speculation” aimed at smearing Beijing, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
“The relevant report is based on groundless speculation and [is] purely aimed at smearing and slandering China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular media briefing in Beijing.
The pushback came after US outlet The New York Times reported on Thursday that US intelligence agencies had identified a Chinese businesswoman, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, as a suspected Chinese asset who had approached and tried to develop a close business relationship with the Nvidia chief.
The NYT reports claim Megaspeed executive Alice Huang passed intelligence to Beijing through close ties to the Nvidia chief. US investigations had previously scrutinized Singapore-based Megaspeed over suspicions of funneling restricted AI chips into China
Nvidia said Megaspeed is an ordinary customer receiving no state secrets, and that its internal reviews had already refuted chip-smuggling allegations.
However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday rejected reports alleging a Chinese espionage plot targeting Jensen Huang, chief executive of US semiconductor giant Nvidia, dismissing the claims as "groundless speculation" and a deliberate attempt to smear Beijing and drag it into tech-sector disputes.
Speaking at a regular press briefing in response to an investigative report by The New York Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said his country rejects such accusations promoted by Western intelligence circles.
The New York Times alleged that a Chinese executive named Alice Huang (Huang Li), associated with Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed, operated on behalf of Beijing's intelligence apparatus and relayed sensitive information through close personal and business ties with Nvidia’s chief executive.
Citing sources familiar with US investigations, the newspaper reported that Megaspeed had come under official scrutiny over suspicions that it facilitated the diversion of restricted advanced artificial intelligence chips to China in circumvention of trade controls.
The reports explicitly noted that Alice Huang shares no family relationship with the Nvidia chief.
For its part, Nvidia maintained that Megaspeed is an ordinary regional client in South-East Asia. The company emphasized that it had previously conducted stringent internal investigations into allegations of chip smuggling into China and had thoroughly refuted them.
Nvidia is the world's most valuable company thanks to the global drive to build data centres packed with specialist computer chips and other hardware that runs AI systems.
An Nvidia spokesperson told AFP on Friday that Megaspeed was like any other regional customer and "Jensen's interactions with Ms Huang are not unusual or unexpected".
"Our regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information -- not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets -- and zero information relevant to national security," they said.
The spokesperson added that allegations the Singaporean company was smuggling chips to China "were thoroughly investigated and debunked last year".
AFP attemped to contact Megaspeed for comment, but when calling the phone number listed on its website, the person who answered said they were unfamiliar with the company and that the number was a residential line. -- Agencies
