The revelation of an affair between Jensen Huang, director of Nvidia, and a Chinese national suspected of working for Beijing's intelligence services had the effect of a bombshell in the United States. She also recalls that “sexpionage” is a process that Beijing has mastered and uses to influence its technological war against the United States.

Published on: 09/11/2026 - 18:37

This is an infidelity that risks costing Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, his group, and potentially American national security. He admitted on Sunday, November 8, to having actually had an intimate relationship with Chinese national Alice Huang. Confessions from the boss of the computer chip giant which caused a shock wave in the United States, against a backdrop of Sino-American technological rivalry.

Alice Huang is in fact suspected of working for Chinese intelligence services. Thus, the possible confessions on the pillow of the boss of Nvidia could have ended up recorded in the notebooks of a spy from the Ministry of State Security, the main Chinese intelligence agency.

The Chinese tradition of “sexpoionage”

A potential scandal which could have profound implications. Not to mention that Jensen Huang was frequently received at the White House, which largely showcased the proximity between Donald Trump and this essential CEO of the tech scene.

For the moment, nothing has been officially confirmed yet. In his letter of apology to his employees, Jensen Huang certainly acknowledges adultery, but without directly mentioning the accusations of espionage, which the New York Times mentioned in an article at the end of October. An investigation into possible leaks of information linked to this extramarital relationship has been launched by an external consulting firm, assured the board of directors of Nvidia.

If Jensen Huang did indeed succumb to the charms of a Chinese spy, he was the victim of "one of the oldest intelligence techniques which consists of using sex to obtain information", underlines Kyle Cunliffe, specialist in intelligence operations at the University of Salford (United Kingdom).

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Usually, "sexpionage" cases are more associated with Russian, rather than Chinese, intelligence services. But, in reality, “the use of romantic or sexual traps is also an established Chinese tradition, dating back to the 1950s,” emphasizes Sense Hofstede, director of the Brussels office of the China team of the International Affairs Association, a Czech think tank.

One of the oldest examples concerns a Frenchman, civil servant Bernard Boursicot, who had a romantic relationship from 1964 to 1983 with a Chinese spy who posed as a woman.

Since then, Chinese intelligence services have continued to use this method. “In the 1990s, the American administration under Bill Clinton [democratic president from 1993 to 2001, Editor’s note] warned state officials against these traps,” underlines Marc Lanteigne, a China specialist at the Arctic University of Norway.

In 2016, the Dutch ambassador to Beijing had to leave his post after the revelation of his relationship with a local employee, suspected of being a spy.

“Sexpoionage” with Chinese sauce

More recently, this Chinese-style “sexpionage” has mainly developed in the field of industrial espionage. A wave of marriages between Chinese students and submariners based in Brest between 2022 and 2024 had intrigued the French intelligence services.

At the end of 2024, Washington for its part banned all its representatives in China from having an intimate relationship with Chinese nationals.

The rise in the use of "love traps" partly reflects China's opening up to the rest of the world. “After the end of the Cold War and what was called the emergence of Chinese power, exchanges with other countries increased, increasing the opportunities for meetings,” underlines Ralph Weber, deputy director of the Institute for Global European Studies at the University of Basel, who has worked on China and its intelligence services. In other words, Beijing has seen the opportunities to use this pillow espionage multiply.

Also (re)read When Chinese spies are accused of interference in an American election

If these attempts at seduction are increasingly targeting CEOs and employees of companies in key sectors, it is not only because economic intelligence is a priority for China. “These targets are also less aware of this threat than diplomatic corps personnel or civil servants who have received explicit warnings,” said Kyle Cunliffe.

It is also a technique that has everything to please the Ministry of State Security, “a massive organization, renowned for establishing long-term relationships with their targets,” says Ralph Weber. “Sexpionage” makes it possible to create a long-term report that Chinese spies can then exploit at the appropriate time.

No wonder, in this context, that the CEO of Nvidia could have been targeted. What is much more surprising is that Jensen Huang could have been fooled. “It is a failure of the American intelligence services. It is still surprising that the CEO of a group so important in the Sino-American technological rivalry was able to start a relationship with a Chinese woman without a thorough check of Alice Huang’s profile,” marvels Marc Lanteigne. For him, the Singapore-based group for which this Chinese woman worked – MegaSpeed, a data center company client of Nvidia – presented “characteristics of a front company set up by Chinese intelligence services”. It had been established barely a year before the publication of the first photo in which Alice Huang appears alongside Jensen Huang, in one of the most strategic sectors for Beijing.

Taking advantage of Jensen Huang's proximity to Donald Trump

Jensen Huang's behavior "was also uninspired", believes Sense Hofstede. Indeed, given his position, he should have been aware of the risks of being approached by a spy. But even if Alice Huang was not part of this inner circle, “the CEO of Nvidia put her in danger by starting a relationship with her, because the Chinese intelligence services were going to look for pressure to make her work for them,” adds this expert.

So the heart certainly has its reasons that reason does not know, and Jensen Huang was able to say to himself that, in his sector, "sexpionage" is not the best way to gain access to industrial secrets. A cyberattack may indeed seem more relevant to obtaining the manufacturing secrets of Nvidia chips. “There is a limit to the technical details about his work that we will share under the covers,” recognizes Kyle Cunliffe.

But “sexpionage” operations rarely aim to obtain precise information, note the experts interviewed. “Establishing a long-term relationship can allow you to have a better understanding of the atmosphere within a group, to be aware quickly when an important event occurs or even to create possible leverage for subsequent recruitment,” lists Kyle Cunliffe.

Having privileged access to Jensen Huang is perhaps above all a political operation rather than industrial espionage. “The aim was perhaps above all to get closer to an influential leader with direct access to Donald Trump,” believes Sense Hofstede. Chinese spies can hope to obtain first-hand information or almost "on the progress of the personal meetings between Jensen Huang and the American president", confirms Ralph Weber.

A source that the Ministry of State Security has just lost if Alice Huang actually worked for them. “It is certainly never pleasant to lose such access, but China had surely anticipated, calculated this risk, and concluded that the game was worth the candle,” assures Ralph Weber.

We do not know to what extent this operation, if proven, has already allowed Chinese spies to learn about Nvidia and the relations between Jensen Huang and Donald Trump.

Beijing, however, risks losing an objective ally in the affair. “Jensen Huang had personally pleaded with Donald Trump to limit sanctions against China, and this scandal will weaken this discourse,” says Sense Hofstede. Perhaps the scandal will even cost Jensen Huang his job, a few days before Donald Trump's trip to China.

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