Inside the firm at the heart of Nvidia scandal accused of smuggling chips to China

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Megaspeed has faced US scrutiny over suspicions that it helped Beijing ‌gain access ⁠to Nvidia's advanced AI chips

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Cloud computing firm Megaspeed has come under fresh scrutiny as the US looks into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a businesswoman alleged to be a Chinese spy.

Nvidia has seen hundreds of billions of dollars wiped from its value in recent days after the US chipmaker said it would investigate Huang’s admitted relationship with the former Megaspeed director Alice Huang.

China says allegations about Chinese spies are “entirely groundless” and “intended to smear and malign China”. But US intelligence officials nevertheless believe Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was funneling information to Beijing.

For years, Washington has tried to keep China from gaining the know-how to rival the United States in cutting-edge AI, which Nvidia’s chips support.

Now attention turns to Megaspeed over suspicions that it helped Beijing ‌gain access ⁠to advanced AI chips whose export to China is restricted.

Megaspeed was incorporated in 2015 as 7Road International before changing its name to Megaspeed International in March 2023, when it was bought by a British Virgin Islands company called Huang Le Ltd.

Alice Huang ended her eight month tenure as managing director months later, in October 2023, but is reported to still be involved in the company. In November 2023, the firm was sold again to a Singaporean entity called Swiftdata, which says its main job is providing hosting services by non-data centres.

Megaspeed's assets increased sharply to $3 billion in 2024 from $33 million in 2023, its business filings showed.

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