China says US fabricated Nvidia spy claims to justify tech blockade

China accused the United States on Thursday of using spurious spying claims as a pretext to impose a technological "blockade" on China, following claims that Nvidia boss Jensen Huang was the victim of a Chinese espionage plot.

"China's technological progress is driven by independent innovation and open cooperation. The US side should stop fabricating such 'spy' narratives as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing.

Huang, who co-founded Nvidia and turned it into the world's leading supplier of the chips that power AI, has admitted to having an extramarital affair, reportedly with Alice Huang. She is reported to be a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed and is thought by US officials to have worked for Chinese intelligence.

China has dismissed the claims about spying on Huang as "groundless speculation" and "an attempt to smear China."

US President Donald Trump last year cleared Nvidia's H200 chips for export to China over objections from hawks in both parties who fear Beijing winning the race to dominate in AI technology.

The furore comes ahead of a meeting next week between Trump and President Xi Jinping at the APEC gathering in Shenzhen in southern China.

Chinese AI firms seek overseas chip capacity

Chinese artificial intelligence companies are trying to secure access to Nvidia-powered computing capacity at data centres outside China amid fears that the US could tighten restrictions on their use of advanced chips, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The US restricts the export of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips to China to maintain its lead in the technology sector. However, Chinese companies can still use these processors by renting computing power from data centres in other countries.

Reuters reported that a major Chinese cloud service provider has discussed securing overseas Nvidia chip capacity. Some other Chinese companies have also contacted data-centre operators to reserve computing resources, the sources said.

Why it matters

The dispute adds tension to US-China relations over AI chips and export curbs ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting at the APEC gathering in Shenzhen. Chinese technology companies are concerned that Washington could limit their access to Nvidia processors through overseas data centres.

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Sources

• france24.com: China accuses US of 'fabricating' Nvidia spy claims to push tech 'blockade' - France 24
• straitstimes.com: China accuses US of tech blockade over Nvidia claims | The Straits Times
• punchng.com: China: US uses spy claims to justify tech blockade
• ng.headtopics.com: China Accuses US of Tech Blockade After Nvidia Espionage Claims | Economy
• wionews.com: Jensen saga fallout: Chinese AI firms rush to secure Nvidia chip capacity; Beijing says spy claims to justify US tech blockade

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.