Bloomberg maps network of Chinese firms using smuggled NVIDIA AI chips

Documents point to a procurement network

Bloomberg has published an investigation describing what it calls explicit evidence of a network of Chinese companies that obtained NVIDIA chips which were not supposed to be sold in China. According to Engadget's coverage of the report, Alice Huang sits at the centre of that network.

The publication reviewed corporate filings submitted to the Chinese government. The filings came from Shanghai Longteng Intelligent Computing, a company Huang set up about a decade ago, which had to document its servers because it used them as collateral for financing.

Banned hardware found in the filings

The hardware listed in the documents traces back to Aperia Cloud Services, an NVIDIA Cloud Partner based in Singapore, Bloomberg says. Aperia bought 22 Dell servers equipped with NVIDIA H800 chips, a model that cannot legally be shipped to China.

Engadget reports that Dell ended its business relationship with Aperia in February 2025 over concerns about the arrangement.

Shanghai Longteng's filings also listed 52 servers made by Super Micro Computer Inc. Those units carried NVIDIA H100 or H200 chips, which require express approval from the US government before they can be sold to Chinese buyers.

Links to Alice Huang and the Shanghai facility

Huang has not been part of Shanghai Longteng since 2017, and the documents do not state whether she was personally involved in buying the chips. Bloomberg reports that her sister, Huang Yu, took over as the company's majority owner after her departure.

The chips were installed at the Yangtze River Delta Project, an AI facility in Shanghai that Bloomberg says is also tied to Alice Huang. Its president is Kang Wei, reported to be Huang's husband and the person who introduced her to NVIDIA chief executive Jensen Huang.

Huang's company Megaspeed, where she presented herself publicly as an executive, showed investors a rendering of the Yangtze River Delta Project in 2024 and described it as its largest AI facility.

Claims about espionage against NVIDIA

US officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by China's main intelligence agency to target Jensen Huang, according to the reporting. The apparent goals were to learn about America's AI plans and to encourage him to persuade the US government to allow more advanced NVIDIA chips to be shipped to China.

The magazine stresses these are officials' beliefs and reported claims, not established findings.

What happens next

Jensen Huang is due to testify before the US Congress this month. Bloomberg's findings are likely to be examined closely by officials preparing for that hearing.

The story touches on a sensitive area of US export controls, which restrict the sale of advanced AI hardware to China. The case suggests some restricted chips have reached Chinese facilities through third countries such as Singapore.