On a winter evening in December 2023, in a Singapore restaurant on Turf Club Road, a moment of ordinary hospitality, a chef coaxing a famous guest to stir risotto, was captured on video and photographs that have since taken on a far heavier meaning. Nearly three years later, those images have become part of a larger human story about the uneasy meeting of technology, ambition, and suspicion: a tale of how the world's most coveted computing chips crossed borders they were meant to stay behind, and of the personal ties that may have passed unnoticed beside the clatter of plates. What the lens re
Photos Place Jensen Huang with Alice Huang at a Singapore Restaurant in December 2023, Months Before Affair Reports
Not everyday you have Jansen serving you pasta
Mark
Why do photos from a restaurant dinner matter in a story about chip exports?
Mimi
They move the timeline. The Times said the relationship goes back further than previously known, and this December 2023 evening is the earliest documented meeting of the two.
Mark
And that date lines up with something else, doesn't it?
Mimi
According to the Times, Alice Huang had just restructured a company that would soon buy billions of dollars in Nvidia chips. That is the same period.
Luke
Careful, though. The photos show two people at a dinner. They don't show what was discussed or any wrongdoing.
Mark
So what do the images actually establish?
Mimi
That they were together in Singapore on Dec 7, 2023, going by the posted material, and that she was filming him. Later photos put them together in Taipei in June 2024 and Taiwan in May 2025.
Luke
And the chip-evasion account, the Shanghai investors, the shell company, is the Times' reporting. Our source repeats it but doesn't independently confirm it.
Mark
What about the spy label?
Luke
It's described as alleged. Nothing here substantiates it beyond that attribution.
Mimi
Also still open: the Valtulinas and former staff haven't responded yet, and the restaurant closed in 2023, so there is no venue to ask.
Luke
Right. Whether any government acts is unknown.
Le Pouls
- Newly surfaced footage places Jensen Huang and Alice Huang together at Ristorante Da Valentino in December 2023, well before the relationship was publicly known.
- The New York Times' October 2026 report rattled the chip industry by tying the Nvidia co-founder to a woman described as an alleged Chinese spy.
- Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, is accused of sidestepping US export bans to funnel billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia AI chips to Chinese buyers through a Singaporean shell company.
- Newspapers are chasing the Valtulina family and former restaurant staff for their memories of that evening, while the question of formal government action hangs unanswered.
On a winter evening in December 2023, in a Singapore restaurant on Turf Club Road, a moment of ordinary hospitality, a chef coaxing a famous guest to stir risotto, was captured on video and photographs that have since taken on a far heavier meaning. Nearly three years later, those images have become part of a larger human story about the uneasy meeting of technology, ambition, and suspicion: a tale of how the world's most coveted computing chips crossed borders they were meant to stay behind, and of the personal ties that may have passed unnoticed beside the clatter of plates. What the lens recorded lightly, the public now reads gravely.
On December 7, 2023, at Ristorante Da Valentino on Turf Club Road in Singapore, Jensen Huang stood with a glass of wine, stirring risotto inside a hollowed cheese wheel. Chef-owner Valentino Valtulina urged him on with a cheerful "Don't be afraid, just go for it," and the room laughed along. Nobody there could have known that the evening would one day become evidence.
The footage was shared on Instagram by Perla Valtulina, the chef's sister. In the clip, the camera drifts from Huang to Alice Huang, who films him grinning and watches him serve the dish. Huang also joked about the Italian word mantecare, mixing it up with Monte Carlo. Those lighthearted images are now the earliest known pictures of the two together.
Their paths crossed again in Taipei in June 2024 and in Taiwan in May 2025. Then, in late October 2026, The New York Times reported that Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, had developed a close relationship with the Nvidia co-founder, and that their connection stretched back further than anyone had known. According to that report, in 2023 she had just restructured a company, backed by Shanghai investors, that would soon buy billions of dollars in Nvidia AI chips despite US bans on such sales to Chinese firms.
The restaurant closed at the end of 2023 after eighteen years, citing rent and staffing. The Valtulinas and former employees have been asked for their recollections, and whether the allegations will draw formal government action remains to be seen.
On Dec 7, 2023, at a restaurant on Turf Club Road in Singapore, Jensen Huang stood holding a glass of wine and stirring risotto inside a hollowed cheese wheel while staff and diners looked on. Chef-owner Valentino Valtulina coaxed him along: "Don't be afraid, just go for it." Nearly three years later, that scene has become evidence in a story about chip export controls and alleged espionage.
The footage comes from the Instagram account of Perla Valtulina, sister of the chef-owner of Ristorante Da Valentino. Her post includes a video and several photographs. In the video, the camera pans from Huang to Alice Huang, who wears a white blouse and a reddish-pink skirt. She films him on her iPhone, grinning. Alice Huang is the alleged Chinese spy with whom the former Nvidia chief executive is reported to have had an affair. Photos and video of the two together at the restaurant are the earliest known images of them.
The clip carries some lighter moments. Valtulina explained mantecare, the technique of emulsifying fat and starchy water into a creamy sauce, and Huang jokingly mixed the word up with Monte Carlo. "Monte Carlo is a computer science method," he said. "It's called Monte Carlo because, you know, by chance," a nod to the casino in Monaco.
A following photo shows Huang serving the risotto to Valtulina while Alice Huang watches with a hand over her mouth. It is stamped with the words: "Not everyday you have Jansen (sic) serving you pasta." Two more photos show Huang with other family members and diners. The Italian caption, translated, reads: "Great emotion to have Nvidia CEO Mr Jensen Huang as a guest."
The two appeared together again later. They were photographed in June 2024 at an industry party in Taipei, and in May 2025 they sat side by side at a dinner Jensen Huang hosted in Taiwan.
The affair became public in late October 2026, when The New York Times reported that Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, had "developed a close relationship" with the Nvidia co-founder. The newspaper also obtained a photo of the December 2023 meeting at Da Valentino, and wrote that the Singapore meeting showed her relationship with him "goes back further than previously known."
The Times article, published Nov 10, said Alice Huang had reason to celebrate that day in 2023. Backed by wealthy investors in Shanghai, she had just restructured a company that would soon buy billions of dollars in Nvidia artificial intelligence chips. The US government had barred Chinese companies from buying such advanced chips, but according to the report she sidestepped the ban by creating Megaspeed through a Singaporean shell company.
The Straits Times has asked Perla Valtulina, Valentino Valtulina and several former restaurant employees for comment. The restaurant itself no longer exists: it closed at the end of 2023 after 18 years, citing high rent and manpower shortages.
What to watch: whether the Valtulinas or former staff add detail about that evening, and whether the export-control and espionage allegations lead to formal government action.
Citations marquantes
The meeting in Singapore was a sign of how Ms Huang's relationship with Mr Huang goes back further than previously known.— The New York Times, as quoted by The Straits Times
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur The Straits Times ↗