(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The espionage scandal involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang continues to ferment. According to Reuters interviews with people familiar with the matter, Chinese artificial intelligence companies are worried that the United States will take the opportunity to tighten restrictions on the remote use of advanced chips, and are busy leasing Nvidia computing power in overseas data centers.
According to reports, Nvidia’s board of directors met late on Wednesday (November 11) to discuss Huang’s departure, and a decision has not yet been announced. After the news broke, Nvidia's stock price fell more than 8% after hours.
U.S. Democratic senators asked the Trump administration to retain documents related to Nvidia’s chip exports to China. China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of "fabricating the so-called espionage narrative."
Congressional pursuit: Senators demand retention of Nvidia export documents to China
Senior Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, requesting that all documents related to Nvidia's chip exports to China be preserved. The letter was first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal.
"This incident raises serious concerns about the federal government's ability to effectively enforce export controls and protect national security," the two wrote in the letter. "In addition, questions remain to be answered as to whether prudent defensive counterintelligence actions were taken and whether national security recommendations were overruled," the letter added.
Both senators also demanded that the Trump administration brief Congress on the national security risks posed by the suspected intelligence operation.
Chinese companies scramble for computing power: worried about the United States plugging cloud loopholes
Currently, the United States restricts the export of Nvidia's most advanced artificial intelligence chips to China, but Chinese companies can use such processors remotely by renting computing power in overseas data centers. Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters that a large Chinese cloud service provider has internally discussed whether to lock in overseas Nvidia chip computing power, and some companies have contacted data center operators to discuss reservations. Smaller artificial intelligence laboratories are also considering approaching large computing power rental providers in Southeast Asia.
These companies are worried that the Huang controversy may add political momentum to the Remote Access Security Act (RASA). The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Commerce to regulate the remote use of restricted technologies through the cloud. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill with a vote of 369 to 22 in January this year and is currently awaiting consideration by the Senate.
NVIDIA's advanced processors are used to train and run the large AI models behind chatbots and other generative AI products. Restricting overseas cloud access will make it more difficult for Chinese developers to obtain high-end computing power without directly importing chips.
Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Alice H, a woman who is suspected of having an extramarital affair with Jen-Hsun Huang and is accused of spying for Beijing, has business and investment relationships with many leading Chinese technology companies such as Tencent and Alibaba. Singapore industrial and commercial information reviewed by Reuters showed that Alibaba subsidiary Apex Enterprise Solutions had provided financing to Speedmatrix, a Malaysian company related to Megaspeed, where Alice H once worked. Megaspeed denies illegally transferring chips to China.
Gray market: Buyers are busy stocking up before U.S. regulations tighten
The prospect of tighter enforcement has also boosted gray market demand for restricted Nvidia chips in China, with traders and middlemen already starting to stockpile the processors, two people familiar with the matter said. Procurement records show that a university with close ties to the Chinese military purchased Nvidia H200 chips last month despite being on a U.S. export blacklist.
In March this year, U.S. prosecutors accused Super Micro Computer co-founder Wally Liaw and three other people of conspiring to transfer servers equipped with Nvidia chips to China through a Southeast Asian company.
Prosecutors said the company purchased approximately $2.5 billion in servers from AMD between 2024 and 2025, a significant portion of which was transferred to China. The defendant has not yet been convicted.
Beijing responds: Says US "fabricated so-called spy narrative"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Thursday: "We have made clear our position on the so-called 'Chinese spy' argument. China's scientific and technological progress relies on independent innovation and open cooperation. The United States should stop fabricating so-called spy narratives to find excuses for implementing technological blockades."
When asked whether this matter would affect the possible meeting between the Chinese and American heads of state to be held next week, Mao Ning said that China and the United States have maintained close communication on the interaction between the two heads of state. China is willing to work with the United States to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote the establishment of a "constructive strategic and stable relationship between China and the United States based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity." Trump is expected to meet Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
