Singapore probes Megaspeed as Nvidia's Jensen Huang quits over affair

Singapore's government said it has been investigating since February 2025 whether Megaspeed and other firms made false declarations about data servers bought and exported through the city-state, as a scandal involving Nvidia founder Jensen Huang put its chip trade under scrutiny.

Huang stepped down from the US chip giant on Thursday after admitting an affair. He was reportedly involved with Alice Huang, who ran Megaspeed, a major buyer of Nvidia chips.

Singapore was the second-largest billing centre globally for Nvidia last year, accounting for nearly a fifth of what the company earns, though less than 1% of its earnings were for chips that actually entered Singapore.

The companies stated the equipment would end up in neighbouring Malaysia, but authorities suspect the final destinations were elsewhere. Singapore said it sought assistance from US authorities several times for information from Supermicro, a US-based company understood to have been supplying computer servers to Megaspeed, and received "limited information or assistance."

Authorities investigated Alice Huang not for espionage but for any possible role in Megaspeed's suspected fraud, found "insufficient evidence" of crime and let her leave Singapore in February this year after holding her passport for several months. No charges have been brought against Megaspeed or companies and individuals linked to the case.

Megaspeed has maintained it has always acted lawfully and said on Thursday it "welcomes appropriate government scrutiny." China has long refuted accusations that its companies illegally obtain high-end US chips.

Since 2022, when the US restricted advanced American semiconductors from being exported to China or acquired by Chinese companies, US officials have been concerned other countries could be used to gain access. Singapore has charged four companies and five individuals, including Chinese nationals, for offences including fraud, following concerns that DeepSeek had been buying Nvidia chips from third parties in Singapore.

Singapore says it does not enforce "unilateral export controls imposed by other countries" but expects companies in its jurisdiction to respect such regulations.