Could be of great service: Nvidia CEO's China pitch under scrutiny after scandal

Jensen Huang's admission of an affair with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset has put his China dealings under fresh scrutiny. There is no established evidence that the relationship influenced his stance on US chip export controls.

In Short

• Huang admits to an affair with Alice Huang, suspected by US as a Chinese asset
• He argues Nvidia can serve China's AI market while benefiting US interests
• US chip export restrictions since 2022 have hit Nvidia’s China sales hard

Nvidia “could be of great service” to China, CEO Jensen Huang told Fortune weeks before admitting to an affair with Alice Huang, whom US intelligence agencies reportedly suspect of being a Chinese intelligence asset.

In the October interview, conducted before The New York Times reported the allegations, Huang described Nvidia’s opportunity in China as “large and growing”.

His remarks are now drawing renewed attention to his push for access to the market despite US export restrictions and Beijing’s efforts to promote domestic alternatives.

Huang has long opposed tighter restrictions on chip sales to China. The allegations do not establish that the relationship influenced his position.

Photos shared online show Huang and Alice together in Taipei in June 2024, though the duration of their relationship remains unclear.

WHAT JENSEN HUANG SAID ABOUT CHINA

Asked whether he expected sales in China to pick up, Huang acknowledged there would be a “natural tension” between Washington and Beijing that “lasts a long time”.

Huang said Nvidia would continue to exclude China from its revenue forecasts, as it has since August 2025 amid regulatory uncertainty in both countries, but maintained that the market offered considerable scope for growth.

“I think the opportunity in China is large and growing, just like the AI market across the world is large and growing,” he told Fortune.

“We could be of great service to the local market. We can compete and win as much of the AI market as possible for the United States, while also providing compute resources, which is really important to their economy,” he added.

His argument for serving Chinese customers has been central to Nvidia’s efforts to regain access to a market restricted by Washington.

THE CHIP CURBS JENSEN HUANG HAS FOUGHT

US restrictions on advanced chip exports to China began in 2022 and were tightened in 2023, prompting Nvidia to develop alternatives.

Those alternatives also ran into restrictions. Nvidia’s China-focused A800 and H800 chips were caught by the 2023 rules, while its H20 model later faced licensing hurdles.

Huang has repeatedly urged Washington to allow sales. In October 2025, he said Nvidia’s share of China’s advanced AI chip market had fallen from 95 per cent to zero under US export controls.

In December 2025, Trump announced that Nvidia could sell H200 chips to approved Chinese customers, with the US collecting a 25 per cent fee on sales. Huang had met Trump to discuss export controls days before the announcement.

Nvidia’s board has said it has no reason to believe company secrets or national security were compromised.

The question now is whether Huang can continue to persuade Washington to allow greater access to China as his own dealings with the country face closer scrutiny.

- Ends