Trump Was Briefed On Alleged China Spy Plot Involving Nvidia's Jensen Huang And Did Nothing, Report Finds (October 29, 2026)
www.forbes.com

... Topline

President Donald Trump received intelligence about a suspected Chinese spy with close ties to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, an ally and top tech advisor to the president, but chose not to act, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Key Facts

Trump was briefed on U.S. intelligence findings about Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman whom officials determined was gathering information for Beijing, around a year ago, but chose not to do anything about it, according to The New York Times.

U.S. surveillance unveiled her close professional and social relationship with Jensen Huang, raising concerns that China could gain access to critical information on artificial intelligence development, thwarting U.S. efforts to prevent the country from beating it in the global AI race.

Trump has been concerned about disrupting Nvidia's chip sales"which drive U.S. AI advancement and the entire economy, as the company makes up around 8% of the S&P 500 by market capitalization"as well as further complicating trade relations with China.

Jensen Huang has not received a defense intelligence briefing, which U.S. officials sometimes use to warn Americans that foreign intelligence services may be targeting them, The Times reported, citing people briefed on the surveillance.

Nvidia defended its relationship with Alice Huang's company, Megaspeed, saying its dealings with her were routine and that it shared no sensitive trade secrets or information about national security.

U.S. officials did not believe Jensen Huang knew Alice Huang was gathering information for China when they briefed Trump last year, The Times reported, but some of Trump's senior officials believe Jensen couldn't have remained unaware of this.

...

The U.S. doesn't let companies export Nvidia's most advanced chips to China, but some have illegally smuggled them over the border, and others set up businesses that buy large numbers of chips to build data centers in Southeast Asia, that then serve Chinese firms.

The Trump administration rolled back rules the Biden administration put in place in 2022 to prevent this practice, and Megaspeed is one of the companies that buys chips and then rents computing power to Chinese companies. U.S. investigators also think some Nvidia chips are actually making their way into China through Megaspeed, The Times reported.

...

TANGENT

Jensen Huang has become one of Trump's close tech advisors. In April 2025, Trump was considering banning sales of Nvidia chips to China, which prompted Huang to meet with him and explain why selling to Beijing was crucial. People briefed on that discussion said Trump was very impressed with Huang. ...

Bruce Cockburn - If I Had A Rocket Launcher (2005 concert of a 1984 song)
www.youtube.com

If I Had a Rocket Launcher
en.wikipedia.org

... Background

"If I Had a Rocket Launcher" was inspired by Cockburn's visit, sponsored by Oxfam, to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico, where he witnessed helicopters attacking refugees.[1] He said in a 2010 interview that the song was intended to express his dismay over the plight of Guatemalan refugees.[2] Speaking on the song's subject matter, Cockburn said that "one of the most striking things was seeing the strength of people in incredibly desperate situations."[1]

Cockburn was concerned that "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" would be misinterpreted by some listeners as a call to violence and almost decided against recording it for this reason. He ultimately decided to go forward with including the song on Stealing Fire over his belief that listeners would understand the song's intent.[3] ...

The polar vortex just broke a new record but experts aren't sure what it means for this winter's weather
www.bbc.com
... The spiralling winds of the polar vortex high above the Arctic have reversed direction marking the earliest 'major sudden stratospheric warming' on record.

These polar winds usually blow in a westerly direction keeping cold air locked high above the North Pole.

However in recent weeks the polar vortex has weakened and shifted position. Observations have now shown a switch to easterly winds, which experts say defines a 'major sudden stratospheric warming' or SSW.

Similar disruptions can occur during winter and are often linked with colder weather in the UK. But this event happening so early in autumn is unprecedented in modern observations.

What is sudden stratospheric warming?

The polar vortex is a normal feature of our climate in the months around winter. As the North Pole tilts away from the sun, temperatures above the Arctic drop and strong westerly winds form in the stratosphere.

Sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is when a rapid and dramatic rise in temperature occurs high in the stratosphere, roughly 10 to 30 miles (15-50km) above Earth's surface.

It can happen due to atmospheric disturbences causing a shift in the position or shape of the polar vortex which can make its winds weaken.

This sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) can eventually lead to the strong westerlies reversing into easterly winds.

In the following days and weeks these changes can slowly filter lower down in the atmosphere altering the position of the jet stream which drives what type of weather we experience on the ground. ...

Trump Denied Knowing About Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Spy Link. He Was Warned Before China Trip
www.timesnownews.com

... US President Donald Trump was informed in May that American intelligence agencies had obtained sensitive information suggesting Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was in a relationship with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy, according to people familiar with the matter quoted by The New York Times. The warning was delivered by Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio aboard Air Force One, shortly before Huang joined Trump's trip to Beijing at the President's invitation, the people said.

It was at least the second time in seven months that Trump had been briefed about intelligence concerning Huang's alleged relationship with the woman, identified as Alice Huang. US officials had concluded that she was working for China's Ministry of State Security, according to the report.

The latest disclosure contradicts Trump's claim on Monday that he had not known about the relationship when he travelled to China to meet President Xi Jinping.

"No, I didn't hear about it then," Trump said when asked whether he knew of Huang's alleged ties to the woman before the trip.

The President also appeared uncertain about whether he had received an earlier briefing on the matter. Asked if intelligence officials had informed him last year, he said he would have to check. ...

www.reuters.com

... Duffy said the trouble began at 3:36 p.m., when air traffic control centers experienced instability in radar and communications systems.

"Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data and they started to give us inconsistencies in the data from those routers and because of that we shut the system down," Duffy said, adding that at no stage did they completely lose radar or communications and they were able to safely land thousands of planes.

Duffy said the immediate problem had been fixed and that flying was safe, but warned that a broader overhaul of the aging air traffic control system was needed to prevent similar failures. ...

CDC reports six measles deaths in 2026 as US battles worst outbreak in 35 years
www.theguardian.com

... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported six measles-related deaths in the US this year, according to figures published on its website on Thursday, as the country faces its most severe resurgence of the disease in decades.

The newly reported total is twice the number of deaths recorded in 2025, highlighting the spread of the highly infectious virus, which was officially declared eliminated in the US in 2000.

The country is currently experiencing its largest measles outbreak since 1991. More than 5,400 cases reported nationwide, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker.

Pennsylvania has been the state most severely affected by the outbreak, with officials confirming six measles-associated deaths in the state this year. A child also died in New York on election day, followed days later by the death of an infant in Wisconsin. Active outbreaks have been reported in nearly every US state.

The Wisconsin department of health services confirmed the infant's death, while New York recorded its first known measles-related fatality in more than three decades.

The CDC did not identify which states accounted for the six deaths included in its official count. ...

FAA lifts nationwide ground stop, White House says no indication of "nefarious act"
www.cbsnews.com

... "At 8:15 tonight, Eastern time, we've opened up the airspace," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a news briefing Friday night. "Now does that mean every flight is going to fly right now? It's going to be slow. So if you're watching, you're at an airport, check with your airline."

The FAA had issued the ground stop on all departing flights due to "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The ground stop lasted about five hours.

Duffy attributed the ground stop to outdated air traffic control technology and routers overloaded by data.

"What we have is an incredibly old air traffic control system," Duffy said in the news conference. "... Our routers actually got overloaded with data and ... they started to give us inconsistency in the data from those routers. And because of that, we shut the system down."

An update to the private communications network that connects America's air traffic control system caused the system to reboot, leading to a crash and a communications outage, multiple sources told CBS News earlier Friday. The system is operated by L3Harris, which did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment. ...

AI tokens: How to navigate AI's new spend dynamics (January 2026)
www.deloitte.com

... Organizations should manage AI as an economic system driven by unpredictable, token-based costs, requiring disciplined infrastructure choices, governance, and FinOps practices ...

FAA lifts hours-long ground stop that stemmed from communications problems
www.scrippsnews.com

... U.S. cabinet officials said Friday the incident was a communications problem, not an indicator of an attack or emergency.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday night lifted a ground stop on U.S. air traffic, ending a multi-hour incident that halted flights after an air traffic communications issue. ...

National Weather Service Radar Outage Rumors Debunked by Officials
theuschronicle.com

... The National Weather Service debunks viral rumors of a nationwide radar outage, confirming that all NWS radar systems are fully operational. ...

Yer up ...

Buffalo Springfield
en.wikipedia.org

... Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth",[1] released three albums and several singles from 1966 to 1968.

Their music combined elements of folk music and country music with influences from the British Invasion and psychedelic rock. Like the contemporary band the Byrds, they were key to the early development of folk rock.

The band took their name from a steamroller parked outside their house. ...

... and ...

Bruce Palmer
en.wikipedia.org

... Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 " October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician best known as the bassist in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.[1]
Early years

Palmer was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, later moving with his family to Toronto, Ontario,[2] where in the early 1960s he began pursuing a musical career. He started out playing with Robbie Lane and the Disciples, then graduated to a local, otherwise all-black group fronted by Billy Clarkson.

Next came British invasion-inspired Jack London & The Sparrows (which, after Palmer left, evolved into Steppenwolf).

In early 1965, he left to join The Mynah Birds where he first met Neil Young who was playing lead guitar in the band.

The Mynah Birds, fronted by future funk legend Rick James, had a bright future and were signed to the prestigious Motown Records to do some demo recordings before it was discovered that James was actually in Toronto to avoid serving in Vietnam with the United States Navy, from which he had gone AWOL.

A planned single, "It's My Time" b/w "Go On and Cry", was withdrawn just prior to its scheduled release by Motown. Both sides of this single were included in the 2006 box set The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6: 1966, released in a limited edition of 6000 by Universal label Hip-O-Select, marking the first time any of the 1966 Motown recordings by the Mynah Birds had seen the light of day.

The group was forced to disband, and Young and Palmer drove Young's hearse to Los Angeles in the hope of meeting Stephen Stills, a journeyman folk musician with whom Young had played briefly in Canada two years earlier.

Within two days of arriving in Los Angeles, Young and Palmer were driving on Sunset Boulevard and Stills was coming in the opposite direction.

When Stills saw the Ontario licence plates, he turned around and pursued the hearse, pulled up beside them and realized who they were.

Shortly after, the whole crew pulled into a carpark and introduced themselves.

Thus they became the band Buffalo Springfield.[3] ...

Mullin doesn't rule out cyberattack in unprecedented nationwide passenger plane grounding
www.politico.com

... The Homeland Security secretary also said the administration was looking into a new AI air traffic control system, which was rolled out at airports this week.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that he had "no reason to believe" that an unprecedented nationwide grounding of the nation's air traffic was due to a threat, but he did not rule out a cyberattack.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the nationwide ground stop, its second such order in recent years, citing communication issues.

Mullin, in an interview with reporters outside the White House, said, "There is no indication, and we have no reason to believe as of right now that this was a threat to the United States." However, when later asked if the disruption could have been a cyberattack or an AI intrusion, he said, "That's not known." ...

It's unclear how long the grounding will last. Mullin said, "It's going to take some time, and so this isn't going to just be be resolved and and turned around within the hour. This is this is going to take take some time." He added, "There should be no fear to the public at all."

Mullin was also asked about the FAA's new AI-driven air traffic tool, known as SMART, which was rolled out nationwide this week. He responded: "We're looking at that."

Plague of equipment problems

In a post on X, however, the developers of the AI system, Boston-based Air Space Intelligence, said: "The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA" and air traffic control. ...