Megaspeed, the “root” of the NVIDIA scandal, says it complies with sanctions and will cooperate with U.S. probe

[Financial News] Singapore-based Megaspeed International, identified this month as the “root” of the NVIDIA espionage scandal, issued a statement on the 12th saying it would cooperate with the related U.S. investigation. The company said it complies with U.S. export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) products.
Megaspeed International CEO and Chairman James Tan Yong Peng said in a statement posted on the company’s website on the 12th, “Megaspeed International takes its compliance obligations under U.S. export control laws very seriously.” Tan stressed, “Compliance with regulations is the company’s top priority,” adding, “Megaspeed International is working to cooperate constructively and transparently with the U.S. government.”
Tan also said that Megaspeed International had cooperated with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and explained, “We are prepared to cooperate fully if requested by other relevant U.S. government agencies.” He added that the company had conducted a “comprehensive review” of its graphics processing units (GPUs) and hired a U.S. law firm to independently verify its compliance with export controls.
On the 29th of last month, The New York Times (NYT) claimed that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was having an affair with Alice Huang (Chinese name: Huang Le), a Chinese businessperson suspected of being a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security. Western media outlets later reported that Alice Huang had passed information related to Jensen Huang and NVIDIA to China, and had used her ties to Jensen Huang to smuggle U.S.-made NVIDIA AI GPUs, whose exports were restricted, into China. In response, opposition figures in the U.S. Congress warned that they would investigate NVIDIA’s semiconductor exports to China.
The Chinese gaming company SevenRoad established a Singapore subsidiary in 2015. Alice Huang acquired the subsidiary in 2023, changed its name to Megaspeed International, and turned it into an AI cloud provider. As the company’s controlling shareholder, Alice Huang served as a registered director between March and November of that year. In November, Alice Huang stepped down as a director and also sold her stake in Megaspeed International to another Singaporean company.
Shortly after Alice Huang sold her stake, Megaspeed International was designated an official NVIDIA cloud partner, giving it priority access to NVIDIA GPUs. Megaspeed International is believed to have imported at least $4.6 billion worth of NVIDIA AI equipment (about 6.2 trillion won) through its Malaysian subsidiary, Speedmatrix. Suspecting that Megaspeed International may have smuggled NVIDIA AI equipment into China despite a ban on exports to the country, the U.S. government has been investigating the company since 2024.
On the 10th, U.S. IT publication The Information claimed that Alice Huang and her family had used Speedmatrix and the Chinese company Shanghai Century Litong, established in June 2023, to bring NVIDIA GPUs whose export to China was banned into the country. The NVIDIA products they smuggled into China, including H100, H200 and A100 models, are estimated to total 240,000 units and are said to be worth at least $7.5 billion (about 10 trillion won).
Meanwhile, Singapore’s The Straits Times reported on the 10th that Megaspeed International’s office had effectively been closed since October last year and that the company was not answering phone calls.
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter