Nvidia Short Seller Flagged CEO Jensen Huang's Ties to Suspected Chinese Spy in May
According to CBS News, Culper Research's May report on Nvidia raised questions about CEO Jensen Huang's links to Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive whom U.S. intelligence suspects of being a Chinese state asset. The revelations come as Nvidia's valuation has fallen sharply, which matters to U.S. investors holding the chipmaker and the broader AI semiconductor sector.
A short seller's report on Nvidia, published in May, raised concerns about the relationship between the chipmaker's chief executive and a woman now suspected of spying for China, according to CBS News. The company is now investigating that relationship, and the disclosures have weighed on its shares.
What the May report said
CBS News said Culper Research, a small firm that bets against stocks, released a 40-page report on May 13 that flagged ties between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, who has no family relation to him. CBS described her as a former television reporter and financial industry executive who was once a senior figure at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company. U.S. intelligence suspects her of being an asset of China's Ministry of State Security.
The report's author, Christian Lamarco, described an "uncomfortably close relationship" between the two, CBS said. Lamarco did not immediately respond to CBS's request for comment. The report drew on interviews with employees of Chinese companies, Singaporean and Malaysian corporate filings, and social media images showing the two together at events. CBS noted that the report did not directly describe a romantic relationship.
Allegations about chip diversion
Culper argued that Nvidia's high-end chips were reaching China despite U.S. restrictions, using Southeast Asian intermediaries. In a social media post, the firm said it believed more than 20% of Nvidia's fiscal 2026 compute revenue was still tied to China through illegal diversion, while Nvidia says its China business fell to zero after April 2025 trade restrictions. CBS said Culper also cited Megaspeed and its Malaysian affiliate, Speedmatrix, as buying $4.8 billion of Nvidia AI equipment over three years, and said Megaspeed received financing from Alibaba to buy chips.
CBS noted that Culper had disclosed it held a short position in Nvidia's stock. Nvidia did not immediately respond to CBS's request for comment on the report.
Regulatory backdrop
CBS also pointed to a March 23 letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The lawmakers warned of large-scale diversion of American AI chips to China through Southeast Asia and asked the Commerce Department to suspend certain export licenses for Nvidia AI chips and servers to China and to companies in several Southeast Asian countries.
Why it matters for U.S. investors
CBS said Nvidia's market value dropped by $450 billion over two days in the latest revelations. It also reported that Nvidia shares were at $225.83 when Culper published its report, and had fallen 25% by the close of trading on Tuesday. Investors and lawmakers have asked Huang for answers, according to CBS.
- Nvidia is the main company at the center of the story, and its share price is the most direct exposure.
- Export control enforcement could affect other U.S. chip designers and the companies that supply AI servers.
- Any findings from Nvidia's internal investigation or government action could shape how investors view the company's China sales.
The allegations come from a short seller with a financial interest in a lower share price, and CBS reported that the claims have not been confirmed by Nvidia.
Sources
Written with AI assistance on Nov 11, 3:02 PM ET from the reports listed under Sources, and reviewed by our editor after publication. Before it was published, every figure was checked against those reports, and passages with figures that could not be found there were left out. It can still contain mistakes: read the sources before acting on anything. How we review. Not investment advice.