Rubio personally oversaw classified file warning of Nvidia CEO's ties to suspected Chinese spy

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally oversaw the preparation of a classified document warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of being a spy, after Huang acknowledged the affair, according to sources.

The New York Times, citing multiple sources, reported Sunday (local time) that a classified document warning Huang had become a target of Chinese intelligence was distributed to senior Trump administration officials this past spring.

The document was based on US intelligence electronic surveillance of Alice Huang — known in Chinese as Huang Le — a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. US authorities believe Megaspeed was involved in smuggling Nvidia's advanced AI semiconductors into China in violation of export restrictions. US authorities suspect Huang Le of being an "asset" of China's top intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security — meaning she allegedly collected and passed information to Chinese intelligence.

During the investigation, authorities detected that Huang Le had developed a close relationship with an American citizen. When intelligence officials identified that individual, the person turned out to be Jensen Huang. US authorities concluded that the Nvidia CEO and Huang Le were in a romantic relationship.

Rubio took the lead in drafting the classified document and personally ensured the warning reached the Trump administration. The New York Times said senior administration officials were already aware of Huang's private life and the allegations surrounding his ties to Chinese intelligence — even as he wielded considerable influence over President Donald Trump, pushing for deregulation of AI semiconductor exports.

The classified document overseen by Rubio was distributed to administration officials with high-level security clearances ahead of Trump's visit to China last May. At the time, Huang was initially left off the list of prominent business executives accompanying Trump, but Trump later ordered him added to the delegation, and Huang joined the trip at a stopover in Alaska. Whether his initial exclusion from the list was connected to the distribution of the classified document has not been confirmed.

According to The New York Times, Trump had already been briefed last year on the electronic surveillance of Huang Le and on intelligence officials' assessment that she was working on behalf of Chinese intelligence. Trump took no separate action following that briefing.

Despite operating out of a small office with little local business presence, Megaspeed purchased $2 billion worth of Nvidia products over the past several years, prompting critics to say the company was a front operation set up to secure Nvidia chips. Megaspeed has been building data centers in Southeast Asia and leasing computing resources to China's Alibaba.