By Dennis Molinaro
FLORIDA — Amongst the many tales that are as old as time, one certainly must be the ‘honeypot’ trap, that is, a female spy who steals secrets after seducing her way into the heart (?) of a duped male. History is replete with stories of the seductress spy, Mata Hari being the most well-known one. The James Bond films took it up a notch and had the male be the seducer, and he was so good at it he could seduce the seductress.
Unfortunately, much of that is fiction, as sex sells.
Well, much, but maybe not all. For in the intelligence world sex may sell chips as well. The drama currently unfolding across American news networks concerns the sordid tale of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his now-admitted affair with Alice Huang (no relation).
If this was just a case of being caught at a Coldplay concert together, that would be one thing, but the story comes to the public by way of the New York Times, which has revealed allegations that unspecified US intelligence community members believe that Alice Huang, who built and ran the company Megaspeed, has ties to China’s intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security or MSS.
It may be tempting to downplay this as ‘just’ an affair with the victims being limited to Jensen Huang’s wife Lori Huang, his family and the reputations of the main actors.
But as terrible as this is for them, and it is, the damage here could be much more substantial, and we may only just be getting a glimpse of it. The affair may turn out to be the least important part of this story.
The access is what matters far more.
If the allegations are true, it wouldn’t be all that shocking for people within the intelligence community.
The trap is a well-known one employed by both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and others like Russia and the Soviet Union before them, and it isn’t necessary for an intelligence officer to be the one doing the seducing, just that there be something to blackmail the target with. Being caught, for instance, with a sex worker would suffice just fine.
For both Republicans and Democrats, China is an adversary of the United States, despite PRC sympathizers’ attempts to say otherwise. And the US is in a type of Cold War-esque arms race over AI with China.
China has publicly declared it wants to be the leader in this and win the race to AI superintelligence, as does the US. There is the obvious national security concern then when the reporting is also highlighting how Alice Huang’s company began receiving large shipments of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, more than $4 billion worth, highly coveted by China, used in AI development and highly restricted under US export regulations.
The reporting is highlighting how the investors behind Megaspeed had links to China’s government and defense industry. Three House committee chairs have asked Jensen Huang to give them a closed-door briefing. More investigations into the whole affair appear to be on their way and may reveal more about how deep this rabbit hole goes.
Back to Alice Huang, though.
Her background may be the more interesting part. The Times has since detailed her years in Shanghai finance, the offshore shell companies and the well-connected investors behind her.
That is the background of what is known as a ‘white glove,’ a front for the money and interests of PRC elites. Someone of that type could have had relationships with Party and intelligence entities long before she ever met Jensen Huang.
There has been debate on what exactly the dangers of this relationship are if classified secrets are not at risk, and Nvidia has also claimed no trade secrets were exposed.
The short answer is plenty.
Alice may not have been an MSS officer and may have been a co-optee or someone recruited to work for them as a source (if the allegations are true, remember).
She could have been motivated by money or mission, or been a victim of blackmail herself. Either way, the MSS is known to use influence in their operations, which showcases their sophistication, and while it is still too early to tell in what ways it was wielded, my read of what is public so far is that influence was used as a means.
In PRC influence operations conducted or guided by the Party’s primary influence department, the United Front Work Department, the influence seeks to convert an individual to see the PRC’s interests as their own. It is long-term and done with the goal to have an individual represent the PRC’s aims and goals.
In this case, the reporting highlighted how Alice was sending information back to Beijing, which signals that she was collecting.
She may have played on Huang’s already held beliefs about expanding chip sales to China to further PRC aims. Or that influence may have been the result of her work. Again, it is too early to tell. But the damage here is not just chips entering China.
Having access to Huang meant access to Nvidia policy, White House policy (as we know Huang was in close contact with the Oval Office), customer information, and all manner of other information that China could find useful in planning or carrying out future operations or in conducting strategies for dealing with Washington.
Intelligence is what an adversary might find useful, and the CEO of the United States’ leading AI hardware company could provide much they could find useful.
As the story continues to play out, I am left wondering why the story came out. Was it an attempt by the US intelligence community to engage in a form of threat mitigation?
Was it a case where nothing else was going to work? Was there a bigger fear or risk on the horizon that may have come to pass if this didn’t happen? Might it still regardless? We may or may not get more details on this as the drama plays out.
For now, though, the real world remains far more gripping than fiction.
Dennis Molinaro is an Assistant Professor in Security Studies and International Affairs at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is the author of Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s Secret War Against Canada.
It would be useful to have solid information on the leverage the PRC has on Canadian politicians. It must extend beyond just money / investments.
Power, Politics, Profits are key drivers. What else is going on with Carney, Chrétien, Desmarais etc?
There is never just one cockroach. I suspect this is a misdirection from more serious underlying
issues.