Report: China spy plot targeted Nvidia's Jensen Huang

US intelligence officials believe a Chinese businesswoman close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was passing information to Beijing, the New York Times reported Oct. 29. She is Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore firm. Nvidia says Megaspeed is a regular customer and Huang's contact with her wasn't unusual. China calls the report groundless speculation.

Megaspeed has previously faced suspicion of steering Nvidia chips to China. Nvidia says it investigated and found nothing. The Times also says Trump was briefed and took no action. Ars Technica reports sources link that partly to fears of hurting Nvidia's sales or the US-China trade truce. Trump has since called Huang 'brilliant.'

Keep reading — what to watch

Will Washington actually do anything? Trump says officials are looking closely, but he is also backing the man at the center of it. Watch whether the US tightens checks on chip resellers like Megaspeed. Also watch whether any official confirms the Times' account on the record.