Why is Nvidia’s Jensen Huang at the centre of a US-China row?

Nvidia, the maker of the computer chips crucial to developing and operating AI systems such as ChatGPT, and its CEO are reportedly the target of a Chinese espionage sting.

Nvidia has been selling its much sought-after chips to a little-known Singapore-based datacentre company, Megaspeed. US officials had been concerned that Megaspeed might have been helping Chinese firms bypass restrictions on chip exports to China, by diverting semiconductors to the US’s chief AI rival.

Those concerns about Megaspeed were first reported last year but the story became explosive when the New York Times reported last month that a Megaspeed executive, Huang Le – a Chinese citizen also known as Alice Huang – had developed a “close relationship” with the Nvidia boss.