Alice Huang-Linked Firms Reportedly Used DeepSeek Funding Round To Secure Nvidia Blackwell Access

Litong Inc., a Chinese firm with links to Alice Huang, black-marketed Nvidia’s restricted Blackwell chips, The Information reported.

• Entities connected to Alice Huang participated in DeepSeek's massive second funding round—which raised 105.5 billion yuan ($15.8 billion).
• DeepSeek employees promoted Litong Inc., including Century Litong and Jiangsu Lettall Electronics, to investors as a major blackmarket supplier of Nvidia AI processors. 
• Despite tightening U.S. sanctions and a government crackdown, Litong Inc. has managed to import 240,000 Nvidia graphics processing units into China since 2023. 

Companies linked to Alice Huang, the alleged Chinese spy with romantic ties to Nvidia’s former CEO Jensen Huang, reportedly used a massive fundraising cycle to embed themselves within China's AI firm DeepSeek, while ensuring supply of restricted Nvidia (NVDA) Blackwell chips. 

During DeepSeek’s second funding round between July and October, which raised about CN¥105.5 billion ($15.8 billion), its representatives introduced prospective investors to companies connected to Alice Huang and her family, The Information reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

The companies involved were Century Litong and its parent company Jiangsu Lettall Electronics, which are collectively referred to in the Chinese tech industry as "Litong Inc." They were pitched to by prospective backers as essential partners capable of providing a steady stream of restricted Nvidia Blackwell chips. 

However, the U.S. government prohibits Nvidia from selling its Blackwell architecture GPUs directly to buyers in China. 

NVDA stock dropped about 5% on Thursday after Jensen Huang stepped down from his position following his alleged romantic links to Alice Huang and an Nvidia employee. 

Bypassing US Sanctions

According to the report, the partnership between companies linked to Alice Huang and DeepSeek was heavily driven by hardware scarcity. While DeepSeek made significant strides in adapting alternative hardware such as Huawei processors, they have continued pursuing restricted U.S. semiconductors, specifically Nvidia's advanced Blackwell chips, for high-end tech research and development. 

Through special purpose vehicles, Litong secured its position in DeepSeek's historic financing round, the report said. It added that industry records and tracking indicate that Century Litong, which attained preferred cloud partner status with Nvidia in 2023, managed to import 240,000 Nvidia graphics processing units into China despite strict export regulations and ongoing international crackdowns.

However, the report also mentioned that Alice Huang has no direct stake in Litong. Inc, but found links via a myriad of ownerships and corporate transactions involving her sister Huang Yu and husband Kang Wei. 

NVDA Stock: Stocktwits Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits towards Nvidia stock was still in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory with ‘extremely high’ levels of retail investor chatter around the chipmaker. 

Most retail investors were seen downplaying the effect Jensen Huang’s exit could have on Nvidia. 

View this Stocktwits post

NVDA stock has lost about 12% year-to-date.

(Conversion rate: CN¥ 1 = $0.15)

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