Nvidia scandal exposes Singapore's balancing act as chip hub

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang resigned Thursday after admitting an affair with Alice Huang, a Singapore-based businesswoman whose company Megaspeed was a major buyer of Nvidia chips and is suspected of funneling them to China, spotlighting Singapore's role as a chip hub. Singapore, the second-largest billing center for Nvidia last year, accounts for nearly a fifth of its earnings, though less than 1% of chips physically enter the island. Since 2022 US export restrictions, officials have worried Chinese firms could use Singapore as a backdoor, with Megaspeed suspected of sending chips to China via data centers in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Singapore has charged four companies and five individuals over related fraud but found insufficient evidence against Alice Huang, who left in February. Analysts say the case highlights Singapore's dilemma balancing US and Chinese relations, with critics citing "Singapore-washing" where Chinese firms use the city-state's clean image to obscure origins.