Singapore held Megaspeed CEO's passport amid probe into Nvidia chip shipments, cites limited U.S. assistance
Singapore detained Alice Huang's passport for eight months while investigating alleged shipments of Nvidia-equipped servers to China, saying U.S. agencies provided little help.
Singaporean authorities seized the passport of Alice Huang, then chief executive of Megaspeed, in June 2025 and kept it for eight months as part of an investigation into possible shipments of advanced Nvidia chips to China. The Home Affairs Ministry said it had asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI for assistance, but a source told CBS News that Washington was "not forthcoming" and had not provided substantive help.
Huang, a Chinese national, arrived in Singapore for a voluntary interview requested by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls. Singaporean police conducted a simultaneous interview and impounded her passport. By February 2026 the passport was returned without any charges filed, and Huang was barred from re-entering Singapore for allegedly providing inaccurate information about her role at Megaspeed.
The investigation focuses on whether Megaspeed and Huang falsified declarations related to the purchase of Supermicro servers that contain Nvidia's AI chips. Singapore officials suspect the servers may have been sent to Malaysia before being forwarded to China, though Supermicro offered only limited cooperation. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there was "no indication" the chips were re-exported to China.
Beijing dismissed the espionage allegations as "groundless speculation." The Singapore ministry emphasized its commitment to maintaining the city-state's reputation as a trusted business hub and pledged to continue independent investigations while cooperating with foreign authorities where appropriate.