Alice Huang-tied firms reportedly tapped DeepSeek fundraising for Nvidia Blackwell chips

what happened

Companies linked to Alice Huang, whom the report describes as an alleged Chinese spy with personal ties to former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, reportedly used a large DeepSeek fundraising cycle to embed themselves in the Chinese AI developer and secure supplies of restricted Nvidia Blackwell chips, according to The Information. During DeepSeek's second round, held between July and October and raising about 105.5 billion yuan ($15.8 billion), the company's representatives introduced prospective investors to firms connected to Huang and her family.

The firms named are Century Litong and its parent Jiangsu Lettall Electronics, which the Chinese tech industry collectively calls Litong Inc. Backers pitched them as essential partners able to provide a steady flow of Blackwell chips, even though the US government bars Nvidia from selling these GPUs directly to buyers in China. Industry records cited in the report show Century Litong gained preferred cloud partner status with Nvidia in 2023 and brought 240,000 Nvidia GPUs into China despite export rules. The report also says Huang has no direct stake in Litong, with links running through a web of ownerships and transactions involving her sister Huang Yu and husband Kang Wei.

According to Stocktwits, Nvidia shares fell about 5% on Thursday and are down roughly 12% year to date.

why it matters

For markets, the story matters as a sign of possible tighter scrutiny of chip exports to China. If the sanctions evasion is confirmed, it could complicate Nvidia's sales in the region and draw regulators' attention to AI chip supply chains. Stocktwits notes that most retail investors downplay the risk to the company.

market impact

Nvidia and chipmakers: tighter export-control risk weighs on sector sentiment

• ▼Nvidia shares pressure down — rising risk of tighter export controls and regulatory scrutiny of chip sales into China

tags

instruments

on polymarket