Entities linked to Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang reportedly invested in DeepSeek's funding round, seeking access to restricted Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) Blackwell processors as scrutiny intensifies after Jensen Huang's abrupt resignation.
Entities connected to Alice Huang participated in DeepSeek's $15.8 billion financing, which closed in October, according to The Information on Thursday. Century Litong and its Shanghai-listed parent, Jiangsu Lettall Electronics, collectively known as Litong Inc., reportedly invested to strengthen ties with DeepSeek and establish a supply route for Nvidia's advanced Blackwell chips, whose sales to China are restricted under U.S. controls.
Corporate filings link Alice Huang to Century Litong and Lettall through past ownership structures and transactions involving her sister and husband, despite her having no formal executive role or direct equity stake in either firm, according to the report.
DeepSeek employees allegedly supported Litong's inclusion, describing the group as a major supplier of black-market Nvidia hardware. The financing valued DeepSeek at approximately $92 billion and included backers such as Tencent and CATL.
The Information reported that Litong obscured its direct ownership through special purpose vehicles. Corporate records show the parent committed $14 million to a vehicle managed by Monolith Management, DeepSeek's third-largest investor.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to MarketDash's request for comments.
Burry Hints at Bigger Nvidia Asia Concerns
The funding disclosures arrive after another report linked Alice Huang to businesses connected with Huawei Technologies. According to the report, private intelligence firm Tesari identified her indirect financial interests in companies tied to a Chinese data center whose key customer was Huawei Cloud.
The report indicated that Litong has imported about 240,000 Nvidia chips worth at least $7.5 billion into China since 2023, including Blackwell chips despite U.S. curbs, allegedly facilitated through Alice Huang's ties.
Notably, Nvidia said on Thursday that Jensen Huang resigned after 33 years amid a board investigation, following an admission of an affair with Alice Huang and reports of another affair with an Nvidia Executive. CFO Colette Kress became interim CEO, while Harvey C. Jones was appointed chairman.
Investor Michael Burry hinted at a potentially broader revelation involving Nvidia's Asia business. Burry said concerns about Southeast Asia and Singapore's demand for advanced Nvidia chips were raised years ago, but suggested the bigger issue could be whether Nvidia overstated or underreported its regional revenue and profits. His remarks follow claims that six Chinese AI models were initialized using export-restricted Nvidia Blackwell chips.
Over the past month, Nvidia stock has declined 26.57%, according to market data. On Thursday, the stock fell 4.34% to close at $166.19.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by MarketDash editors.
