Key facts
- Nvidia opened a formal investigation into Jensen Huang's relationship with Alice Huang after he admitted an extramarital affair.
- Culper Research's May 13, 2026 report called the relationship "uncomfortably close" and said employees wondered about a "special relationship."
- Culper alleged Megaspeed was secretly financed by Alibaba through shell companies; the Financial Times reported documents show Alibaba lent money through subsidiaries.
- Megaspeed's total liabilities and equity grew from $33 million at end-2023 to around $3 billion at end-2024, per Culper's reading of records.
- Culper is a short seller and its chip diversion allegations have not been independently verified.
Culper Research, a New York-based short seller, published a May 13, 2026 report calling Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based chip buyer Megaspeed, "uncomfortably close." The report resurfaced after Nvidia opened a formal investigation into the relationship, following Jensen Huang's admission over the weekend of an extramarital affair. Alice Huang shares his last name but is not related to him.
The report said the Nvidia CEO was seen socializing with Alice Huang on multiple occasions, and that some Nvidia employees wondered whether the two had a "special relationship." U.S. intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by the Chinese government to collect intelligence on Jensen Huang and influence his position on U.S. export controls on advanced AI chips, according to the report.
Culper also alleged that China business Nvidia lost to export controls had been rerouted through Southeast Asia, and that Megaspeed was secretly financed by Alibaba through shell companies. It cited financial records showing Megaspeed's total liabilities and equity grew from $33 million at the end of 2023 to around $3 billion by the end of 2024, much of it refundable deposits from an unidentified source.
The Financial Times reported Monday that documents show Alibaba lent money to Megaspeed through subsidiaries. Culper, as a short seller, stood to gain financially from its allegations, and its claims about possible illegal chip diversion have not been independently verified.