theSIGNAL BUSINESS
11 November 2026
"The most dangerous loopholes are the ones that were written into the rules on purpose."
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Business

The Little Singapore Firm Shaking Nvidia's Foundations

As Jensen Huang's private life draws scrutiny, attention turns to Megaspeed, an obscure Singapore cloud firm and one of Nvidia's biggest customers.

Few companies in history have grown as fast as Nvidia, yet one of its more awkward problems this week is a firm most investors had never heard of. Megaspeed, a Singapore-based provider of data center and AI computing capacity, employed Alice H., the woman alleged to be a Chinese spy who is in a romantic relationship with Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang. The allegation has pushed a little-known business into the spotlight.

Megaspeed belongs to a category the industry calls "neoclouds". Such firms buy Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), the chips whose ability to run huge numbers of calculations in parallel makes them essential for artificial intelligence, and then rent out the computing power. Megaspeed does this at several sites across south-east Asia, and advertises access to Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 system, a rack that links 72 GPUs together. Its clients include Chinese technology giants such as Alibaba.

That arrangement sits in a legal grey zone. Washington restricts exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China, which it regards as a rival in the global AI race, and it does not want Chinese firms to own data centers filled with them. However, it tolerates Chinese companies renting computing power from such facilities. The distinction is subtle, and critics argue it is easy to exploit.

According to Bloomberg, Megaspeed had become the largest buyer of Nvidia chips in south-east Asia, having spent billions of dollars on them.

Photo: Taylor Vick / Unsplash
Rows of server racks inside a data center, where rented GPU computing power is housed.
💾
72
GPUs linked in each GB200 NVL72 system Megaspeed offers
Discuss
  • Why might renting computing power to Chinese firms be treated differently from selling them chips directly under US export controls?
  • What does the rise of 'neocloud' firms like Megaspeed reveal about how the AI industry is structured beyond the big chipmakers?
Business

Anthropic's $1.3 Trillion Gamble on Nasdaq

Revenue up fifteenfold, losses up sixfold: that is Anthropic's half-year ledger before its 19 November Nasdaq debut. Sales reached $16.2bn; the pre-tax loss hit $80.7bn. At $70-78 a share, the float could raise $64bn and value the firm near $1.3tn, below SpaceX's $1.8tn. Analysts in London see confidence amid New York jitters.…
  • Should loss-making AI firms be valued at over a trillion dollars at all?
Business

Jensen Huang: One Man Steering Nvidia's Trillions

Jensen Huang has run Nvidia for over thirty years, and the company he co-founded in 1993 is now worth roughly four trillion dollars. Bloomberg's Ian King argues that Huang's influence extends far beyond a typical chief executive's: he courts presidents, from Washington to Riyadh, and shapes where rivals like Taiwan's TSMC invest. Few founders hold such sway over an entire industry's supply chain.…
  • Is one founder's outsized influence over AI a strength or a systemic risk?
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ASIA · Business
Why Nvidia CEO's affair with alleged Chinese spy matters
ASIA · Business
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EUROPE · Business
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GLOBAL · Business
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theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
IVOCABULARY
neocloudslegal grey zone
divertedtoleratesfloat
jitterssway
IIGRAMMAR FOCUS
Discourse markers — contrast and concession (Nevertheless, Whereas, Despite)
Use 'Whereas' and 'While' to contrast two ideas within one sentence, 'However' and 'Nevertheless' to introduce a contrasting point in a new sentence, and 'Despite' or 'In spite of' before a noun phrase or -ing form to show something happened against expectations.
Nevertheless · Whereas · Despite · However · Although · In spite of · Even so
  1. Washington restricts exports of advanced chips to China; , it tolerates Chinese firms renting computing power from such facilities.
  2. Megaspeed has spent billions of dollars on Nvidia chips, most investors had never heard of the firm until this week.
  3. Anthropic's revenue rose fifteenfold, its losses grew only sixfold.
  4. its enormous pre-tax loss, Anthropic is expected to be valued at around $1.3tn.
  5. Megaspeed denied any wrongdoing on December 23, 2025. , both investigations are believed to be continuing.
  6. Huang has led Nvidia for over thirty years, few founders hold such sway over an industry's entire supply chain.
IIIIDIOMS
Define each idiom in your own words. Then write one in a sentence of your own.
  1. to shake someone's foundations
  2. a legal grey zone
  3. to be in the spotlight
  4. to steer the ship
  5. to hold sway over something
IVCRITICAL THINKING
Both the Megaspeed story and the Anthropic flotation depend on trust: regulators trusting that renters will behave, and investors trusting that enormous losses will eventually turn into profit. Which of these two acts of trust seems more reasonable to you, and what kind of evidence would you want to see before relying on either? Consider who benefits if that trust turns out to be misplaced.
VCREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
VIWRITING
Write a short memo (120-150 words) from a compliance officer at a chip manufacturer to its board, recommending one concrete new safeguard to track where its products end up after sale. Justify your suggestion and acknowledge one possible drawback.
VIIDEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • rapid→→
  • awkward→→
  • little-known→→
  • questionable→→
  • jittery→→
  • influential→→
VIIISPEAKING
  1. How would you feel about owning shares in a newly listed AI company?
  2. What responsibilities do investors have when a company's ownership is hidden?
  3. When is a grey area in the law useful, and when is it dangerous?
  4. Can governments really regulate technology that develops faster than legislation?