The Financial Times (FT) reported in early November 2026, citing people familiar with the matter, that a memo prepared by US government officials in the first half of the year, drawing on US intelligence, described a relationship between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based customer Megaspeed. The White House, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Nvidia all declined to comment on the memo, and its contents have not been independently confirmed. The New York Times (NYT) also reported on US intelligence assessments on October 29, and on November 4 the chairs of three House committees asked Jensen Huang for a closed-door briefing. The public record cannot settle whether the allegations are true. But a timeline built from US regulatory rules, Nvidia's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a response from Singapore police shows that H200 export licensing for China and investigations and indictments involving Southeast Asian companies were moving forward in parallel, and it exposes the limits of Nvidia's disclosures.
What the FT and NYT reported about the US government's view, and the denials
According to the FT, the memo said Jensen Huang and Alice Huang had been in a romantic relationship. The FT also reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that US intelligence believes Alice Huang was recruited as a spy by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). The memo was reportedly shared with a small number of senior government officials shortly before President Trump went to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. None of this has been independently corroborated, and the White House and CIA declined to comment. Per the FT, Nvidia also declined to comment on the memo, Alice Huang could not be reached, and the Chinese embassy in the US did not respond.
The NYT's October 29 report differs from the FT's on when the US government obtained the information. The NYT reported that US intelligence had judged Alice Huang to be someone passing information to Beijing, and that President Trump had been briefed about a year earlier but did not act. The FT dates the memo to the first half of 2026, while the NYT places the briefing to the president roughly a year before that. The two outlets describe different time frames, and it is unclear whether they refer to the same document or intelligence. Alice Huang and Jensen Huang are reportedly not related.
The parties involved have denied the reports. In a statement, Nvidia said Jensen Huang speaks with thousands of customer executives every year and that his exchanges with Alice Huang were "neither unusual nor unexpected." The company also said it believed that if the US government had identified any threat, it would have notified Nvidia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun dismissed the reports at an October 30 regular press briefing as "groundless smears against China."
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs issued a correction to a US newspaper article dated October 30, denying that the Singaporean government or its officials had expressed concern and saying it had conducted no such investigation of Alice Huang. However, the ministry denied an investigation of Alice Huang as an individual, not the investigation of Megaspeed itself. In an annex to the same statement, Singapore police said their investigation into Megaspeed is ongoing. The allegations rest on reporting from anonymous sources, and public information alone cannot establish whether they are true. By contrast, the export licensing, the investigations and the financial information Nvidia has published can be checked against primary sources.
Primary sources: H200 export licensing for China and investigations and indictments involving Southeast Asian firms
In an October 13, 2025 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Senator Tom Cotton asked for an investigation of Megaspeed. The letter described Megaspeed as a spin-off of the Chinese company 7Road and called 7Road a "Chinese government-owned cloud company." The FT, meanwhile, has reported that Megaspeed was spun off in 2023 from a Chinese gaming company, so the two accounts differ on the line of business of the parent.
The shift in H200 export policy to China began with a presidential announcement on December 8, 2025. According to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), President Trump said that day that H200 and equivalent products could be exported to approved customers in China. Following that, BIS published a final rule (Federal Register 2026-00789) on January 15, 2026, effective the same day. It changed the license review policy for exports to China and Macau of chips at or below H200-equivalent performance from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review, subject to conditions including sufficient US supply, no reduction in foundry capacity reserved for US users as a result of producing China-bound products, and independent third-party testing in the United States. According to Nvidia's 10-K (annual report), the US government granted licenses in February 2026 to ship small quantities of H200 to certain Chinese customers.
Meanwhile, on March 19, 2026, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of three people, including Yih-Shyan Liaw, co-founder of a US-listed server maker. The DOJ announcement does not name the server maker, but according to the charges, the three are accused of conspiring in 2024–2025 to have a Southeast Asian company, "Company-1," buy about $2.5 billion (about ¥395.8 billion) worth of servers, much of which was diverted to China. Yen conversions use the European Central Bank reference rate of ¥158.33 per dollar on November 6, 2026, and the same basis applies below. The $2.5 billion is the total of Company-1's purchases; the amount specifically cited as diverted is limited to at least about $510 million (about ¥80.7 billion) between late April and mid-May 2025. These are allegations in an indictment, not facts established at trial.
In its October 30, 2026 response, Singapore police confirmed that the Megaspeed investigation is continuing but declined to comment on details. Separately, they said they had charged four individuals and four companies in a fraud case involving server suppliers between February 2025 and July 2026, without naming them. The police said they do not enforce export controls unilaterally imposed by foreign countries, while stating they will deal firmly with companies and individuals who violate Singapore law.
The following is a timeline of key events confirmed in the relevant primary sources.
| Date | Event | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 13, 2025 | Sen. Cotton asks Commerce Secretary Lutnick to investigate Megaspeed | Cotton letter |
| Nov 19, 2025 | Nvidia files 10-Q changing its regional revenue basis to customer headquarters location | Nvidia 10-Q |
| Dec 8, 2025 | President Trump announces H200 and equivalent products can be exported to approved customers in China | BIS announcement |
| Jan 15, 2026 | BIS final rule published and effective; H200-class chip exports to China and Macau move to case-by-case review | Federal Register 2026-00789 |
| Feb 2026 | US government grants licenses for small quantities of H200 to certain Chinese customers | Nvidia 10-K |
| Feb 25, 2026 | Nvidia files 10-K, saying no revenue yet under the licensing regime | Nvidia 10-K |
| Mar 19, 2026 | DOJ announces indictment of three people for conspiracy to divert servers via Company-1 | DOJ announcement |
| Aug 26, 2026 | Nvidia files 10-Q disclosing H200 shipments were only part of the licensed amount and a $400 million charge | Nvidia 10-Q |
| Oct 30, 2026 | Singapore police confirm the Megaspeed investigation is continuing | Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs statement and annex |
| Nov 4, 2026 | Three House chairs ask Jensen Huang for a closed-door briefing on Nov 18 | Letter from the three House chairs |
| Nov 17, 2026 | Nvidia's scheduled third-quarter earnings call | Nvidia announcement |
The timeline shows that from Cotton's October 13, 2025 request for a Megaspeed investigation, through the BIS rule taking effect on January 15, 2026 and the H200 export licenses in February, to Singapore police confirming the investigation on October 30 and the House letter on November 4, H200 export licensing for China and investigations and indictments involving Southeast Asian companies were proceeding in parallel. However, Nvidia's 10-K gives the license grant date only by month. The DOJ has not named Company-1 and has not identified it as Megaspeed. What the timeline confirms is the sequence of events; it does not show that changes to export licensing led to server diversion.
H200 shipments to China were a fraction of the licensed amount, under 1% of Data Center revenue
In its 10-Q filed August 26, 2026 (for the quarter ended July 26, 2026), Nvidia said that because of restrictions on the Chinese government's side, it has been unable to sell the full amount of H200 for which it obtained export licenses. After H200 demand declined, it recorded a $400 million (about ¥63.3 billion) charge related to excess inventory and purchase obligations in the first half of fiscal 2027. Subsequent H200 shipments were also only a portion of the licensed amount and were less than 1% of Data Center revenue in the most recent quarter. Data Center revenue for that quarter reached $89 billion (about ¥14.09 trillion), so permitted H200 shipments make up a small share of overall results.
When Nvidia filed its 10-K on February 25, no revenue had yet been generated under the new export licensing regime, and it was unclear whether imports into China would be allowed. In the 10-Q filed six months later, it said that as of the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2027 it was "effectively foreclosed" from China's data center computing market. In other words, although the US export licensing regime had begun, sales of licensed H200 remained limited in scale, partly because of Chinese government restrictions. This can be confirmed from Nvidia's own financial reports.
Exporting H200 to China also carries additional costs apart from sales volume. The BIS rule makes independent third-party testing in the United States one of its conditions, and the license granted to Nvidia also requires inspection in the US before shipment to customers. H200 exported to China under the regime must therefore first be imported into the US for inspection. According to Nvidia's 10-K and 10-Q, a 25% tariff applies on that import. The company has not been able to pass the tariff on to customers and does not expect to be able to if China-bound sales become possible.
However, H200 export volumes and sales alone cannot establish the substance of the allegations Congress is concerned about. What the three House chairs are seeking is information on Nvidia's safeguards against foreign adversary intelligence activities and on the exchanges between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang. Cotton, for his part, asked for an investigation into product diversion through Megaspeed. Both are issues to be examined separately from the record of H200 shipments made under formal export licenses.
Why Singapore disappeared from Nvidia's regional revenue table, and the limits of disclosure
In Nvidia's 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2025, revenue by billing location showed Singapore at $23.684 billion (about ¥3.75 trillion), or 18% of total revenue. In a footnote, however, the company explained that customers use Singapore to centralize invoicing and that products are "almost always" shipped elsewhere. Products actually shipped to Singapore were less than 2% of total revenue that year. In other words, there was a large gap between revenue booked by billing location and revenue by where products were actually delivered.
Beginning with the 10-Q filed November 19, 2025 (for the quarter ended October 26, 2025), Nvidia changed how it compiles regional revenue. It switched from billing location to the headquarters location of the direct customer and recast figures for prior periods for comparability. The new regional categories are four: United States, Taiwan, China (including Hong Kong) and Other, and Singapore no longer appears as a separate line. The company said the change better reflects the geographic reality of its sales. The notes also state, however, that the end customer or actual ship-to location may differ from the direct customer's headquarters.
The difference is easy to see with a US-headquartered company that consolidates invoicing at a Singapore affiliate. Under the old billing-location basis, the revenue is booked to Singapore, while under the new headquarters basis it is booked to the US. The same transaction yields very different regional numbers depending on the method. But both methods show the billing location or the direct customer's headquarters; neither reveals where products ultimately go or who uses them.
In its 10-Q, Nvidia divides customers into "direct customers" and "indirect customers." Direct customers include ODMs, OEMs, cloud providers and distributors that buy products from Nvidia, and indirect customers are businesses that buy through them. Because regional revenue is based on the direct customer's headquarters, indirect customers' locations are not reflected in the table. As a result, whether Megaspeed is a direct or indirect customer, and in which region its revenue is booked, cannot be confirmed from public documents.
The key point is that Singapore's disappearance as a line item is entirely different from the disappearance of Singapore-related business. After Nvidia changed its regional revenue basis in the November 2025 10-Q, Singapore, which accounted for 18% of total revenue in the year ended January 2025, no longer appears as a separate line. Under neither the old nor the new method can end customers or ship-to locations be identified, and Megaspeed's place in Nvidia's business is not disclosed. Separately, Nvidia provides estimates of the share of Data Center revenue from Taiwan-headquartered customers whose end customers are located in the US and Europe.
The following compares revenue for the fiscal year ended January 2025, as stated in Nvidia's 10-K on the old billing-location basis and as recast on a headquarters-location basis.
| Region (FY ended Jan 2025, $ millions) | Billing-location basis (10-K for FY ended Jan 2025) | Headquarters-location basis (recast in 10-K for FY ended Jan 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 61,257 | 77,482 |
| Singapore | 23,684 | No line item |
| Taiwan | 20,573 | 23,600 |
| China (including Hong Kong) | 17,108 | 25,048 |
| Other | 7,875 | 4,367 |
| Total | 130,497 | 130,497 |
Because of the change in basis, revenue booked to China (including Hong Kong) for the year ended January 2025 was recast from $17.108 billion (13.1% of total revenue) on the billing-location basis to $25.048 billion (19.2%) on the headquarters basis. In yen, these are about ¥2.71 trillion and ¥3.97 trillion respectively. The shares were calculated by this publication using the same total revenue of $130.497 billion as the denominator for both bases, rounded to one decimal place. The roughly $7.9 billion difference arises purely from the change in method; it does not mean sales to China actually increased. Neither figure indicates the value of shipments into China or the location of end customers.
The November 11 reply deadline, the November 18 closed-door briefing, and the questions that remain
In a letter dated November 4, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian J. Mast, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Eric A. "Rick" Crawford asked Jensen Huang to attend a joint closed-door briefing on November 18. The briefing is set for Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and they asked him to accept the request by November 11 or offer an alternative date during the 119th Congress. The letter stressed that "it is essential that Congress determine the extent to which US national security has been put at risk." The letter is a request to appear, however, not a legally binding subpoena.
There are also developments in the Senate. According to the FT, Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said in a post on X over the weekend that he would open an investigation. The FT also reported that he is expected to become chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from January 2027. These moves show that the allegations have become a matter of congressional interest in US national security and export controls, beyond the business relationship between companies.
Nvidia says it conducted an internal investigation into the Megaspeed allegations and found no evidence of wrongdoing. According to the FT, the company said in October 2026 that the allegations in question had been investigated the previous year and rejected. Jensen Huang himself has said in interviews that dealings with Megaspeed were ordinary and that the company examined the GPUs deployed there and "counted them one by one." However, the public documents reviewed do not describe the scope or methods of the internal investigation or the results of the GPU check. It is therefore difficult to independently verify the adequacy of Nvidia's investigation from the outside.
Among upcoming dates, attention will focus on Nvidia's third-quarter earnings call scheduled for 2 p.m. US Pacific time on November 17 (7 a.m. on the 18th in Japan), the day before the date the House requested the closed-door briefing. Singapore police's investigation of Megaspeed was also continuing as of at least October 30. The focus now is whether information not previously made public emerges through the investigation's results or the briefing to Congress.
What the public record confirms for now is the timeline of export licensing and investigation events, along with the figures and notes Nvidia has disclosed in its financial reports. The company's internal investigation and the results of its GPU check have not been made public, and regional revenue data cannot be used to trace the ultimate distribution of its products. Judging the truth of the allegations, the distribution of products and the reality of information security will require additional evidence. The key indicators to watch are how Nvidia responds to the House request by November 11, whether the closed-door briefing on the 18th actually takes place, and how Singapore police's investigation progresses.