Singapore Says It Received Only Limited US Help in Megaspeed Probe, Found Insufficient Evidence Against Alice Huang

The scandal surrounding Nvidia founder Jensen Huang's resignation has also created a major headache for Singapore. Huang stepped down from the US chip giant on Thursday after admitting he had an affair. He was reportedly involved with Alice Huang, who ran Singaporean data centre company Megaspeed, a major buyer of Nvidia's chips.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Singapore government said that since February 2025 it had been looking into whether Megaspeed and other firms had made false declarations about data servers purchased and exported through Singapore. The companies stated the equipment would end up in neighbouring Malaysia, but Singapore authorities suspect the equipment's final destinations were elsewhere.

Singapore said it sought assistance from US authorities several times to get more information about one of the investigated companies, Supermicro. The BBC understands the US-based company was supplying computer servers to Megaspeed. Despite those repeated requests, Singapore said it had to date received limited information or assistance. The BBC has sought comment from the US State Department.

Singapore authorities also investigated Alice Huang, not for espionage, but for any possible role in Megaspeed's suspected fraud. In the end, they found insufficient evidence of crime. After holding her passport for several months, they let her leave Singapore in February this year.

Since launching their probe nearly two years ago, Singapore has yet to bring any charges against Megaspeed or any of the companies and individuals linked to the case. Singapore and US investigations into Megaspeed are still ongoing.

Singapore has, however, acted in other cases. Following US concerns that Chinese AI company DeepSeek had been buying Nvidia chips from third parties in Singapore, among other places, it charged four companies and five individuals, including Chinese nationals, with various offences including fraud.

In billing terms, Singapore is a major centre for Nvidia. It was the company's second-largest billing centre globally last year, accounting for nearly a fifth of what the US chip giant earns. But less than 1 percent of those earnings were for chips that actually entered Singapore, as the island acts as a hub for many Asian companies to place orders and send them elsewhere.

Since 2022, when the US restricted advanced American semiconductors from being exported to China or acquired by Chinese companies, US officials have been concerned that countries such as Singapore could be used by Chinese companies to gain access to the chips. Megaspeed became the biggest buyer of Nvidia's chips in South East Asia and is suspected of giving backdoor access to Chinese companies via its data centres in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

In 2024, US officials visited a Malaysian data centre owned by Megaspeed and saw Nvidia technology still in their boxes, according to a report by the New York Times. Last year, Megaspeed appeared to have imported 50,000 more chips than Nvidia could account for, according to a Bloomberg report; Nvidia later adjusted its own figures after visiting more warehouses.

Megaspeed has maintained it has always acted lawfully and that previous inspections by authorities found no evidence of illegal activity. On Thursday, the company said it welcomed appropriate government scrutiny and was committed to working constructively and transparently with the US government. China has also long refuted accusations that its companies and institutions are illegally obtaining high-end US chips.

Singapore has said that while it does not enforce unilateral export controls imposed by other countries, it expects all companies in its jurisdiction to respect such regulations. Singapore does not prohibit the transfer of advanced AI chips to companies abroad, but such moves can breach US export controls.