Alice Huang linked to Huawei? What we know about Jensen Huang's lover's ties to Nvidia's Chinese rival
Alice Huang, the woman at the centre of the controversy involving former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, may have had business interests linked to Huawei, the Chinese technology giant and one of Nvidia's biggest competitors, according to a CNBC report.
An investigation by private intelligence firm Tesari, and shared with CNBC, found that businesses connected to Alice Huang were linked to companies that supplied computing power to Huawei in China. The findings raise questions about her business interests and whether Jensen Huang knew about her connections with Nvidia's Chinese rival.
Jensen Huang has acknowledged having an affair with Alice Huang, although the exact timeline of their relationship remains unclear. The first publicly known sightings of the two together date back to December 2023, according to CNBC.
Quick answers to key questions
•5 QUESTIONS
1
What links Alice Huang's business interests to Huawei?⌵An investigation shared with CNBC linked companies associated with Alice Huang to Chinese data-centre businesses with commercial ties to Huawei. The reported connection included a facility whose key customer was Huawei Cloud.
2
How was Shanghai Hexi connected to a data centre serving Huawei?⌵Hexi, in which Alice Huang was a co-owner, held a 27% stake in Shanghai Century Longteng from 2021 to 2024. Century Longteng owned a controlling stake in Shenzhen Yifeng Technology, whose facility reportedly served Huawei Cloud.
3
Did Jensen Huang know about Alice Huang's reported Huawei connections?⌵The reports raise that question, but the available information does not establish whether Jensen Huang knew about the business connections. The timeline of his relationship with Alice Huang is also unclear.
4
Could Alice Huang's reported Huawei links lead to a US investigation?⌵The reported links could attract scrutiny because the US restricts exports of advanced semiconductor technology to China. Potential export-control violations would depend on evidence that controlled equipment was transferred to Huawei without authorisation.
5
Was Alice Huang's former business Megaspeed connected to Nvidia chip shipments to China?⌵Alice Huang sold cloud-computing business Osmanthus to 7Road in 2019; a Singapore-based 7Road subsidiary later spun off as Megaspeed. Reports said Megaspeed became a major Nvidia customer and helped facilitate chip shipments to Chinese companies.
The investigation identified a network of companies and transactions connecting Alice Huang to data centre businesses in China that had commercial ties with Huawei. Some of these connections date back several years and involve companies in which she allegedly held ownership interests.
According to reports, Alice Huang, also known by her Chinese name Huang Le, had business interests in several companies connected to China's technology and data centre sectors.
In 2019, she sold a cloud computing business called Osmanthus to Chinese gaming company 7Road, CNBC reported.
A Singapore-based subsidiary of 7Road was subsequently spun off as Megaspeed in 2023. The company later became a major Nvidia customer and helped facilitate at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese companies, according to a report by The Information.
Alice Huang also became a co-owner of a financial firm called Shanghai Hexi in 2016. The company invested heavily in technology businesses and data centres.
In 2021, Hexi acquired a 27% stake in Shanghai Century Longteng, a data centre developer. It retained the holding until 2024.
Century Longteng, in turn, owned a controlling 50.1% stake in Shenzhen Yifeng Technology, a data centre facility in mainland China. Huawei Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of Huawei Technologies, was the facility's key customer, according to CNBC.
The facility's majority owner began purchasing Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) in 2023, although CNBC said it was unclear whether the Shenzhen data centre itself had acquired Nvidia chips.
Through Hexi's investment in Century Longteng, Alice Huang was therefore connected to a business that owned a controlling stake in a data centre serving Huawei.
The business connections identified by Tesari overlap with the period when Alice Huang and Jensen Huang were first publicly seen together.
CNBC reported that businesses linked to Alice Huang were associated with supplying Nvidia computing power to Huawei around the time the two were first publicly spotted together in December 2023.
The investigation also found that Alice Huang's business network remained connected to the Shenzhen data centre even after Hexi exited its investment in Century Longteng in 2024.
Her husband, Kang Wei, was identified as a longtime business associate who founded Hexi, where Alice Huang previously held an executive position.
In 2022, Kang became an executive at Century Longteng and also attended the signing of the company's agreement with Huawei, CNBC reported.
The findings could attract scrutiny from US authorities because of restrictions on the export of advanced American semiconductor technology to China.
Huawei is a major Chinese technology company that competes with Nvidia in artificial intelligence chips, graphics processing units, central processing units and networking chips. Nvidia identified Huawei as a key competitor in 2024, according to CNBC.
According to reports, if the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security or Homeland Security Investigations found evidence that controlled equipment had been transferred to Huawei without authorisation, potential charges could include export-control violations, conspiracy and smuggling.
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