TSMC workers walk on the corridor of a chip manufacturing factory in Taiwan. The company is building three such factories in Arizona.
TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It discovered “unauthorized activity”, which led to a potential trade secret leak, said Tuesday.
The world's largest semiconductor manufacturer told CNBC it has adopted “strict” disciplinary action against the people involved and has also initiated legal proceedings.
“TSMC maintains a zero-tolerance policy for any actions that harm trade secrets or harm the interests of the company,” the company said.
“This violation is strictly handled and is carried out to the fullest extent of the law. We remain committed to protecting our core competitiveness and the common interests of all our employees.”
Semiconductors have become strategic importance in recent years as they have become a key pillar of prosperity in artificial intelligence models and applications. Rising geopolitical tensions have brought the competitive technological advantages of major companies in the chip supply chain, such as TSMC and other leaders, to the spotlight.
Headquartered in Taiwan, TSMC dominates the market for manufacturing the world's most advanced chips and calculates the following: apple and Nvidia As a customer.
The company said that TSMC could not provide more information as the case is under judicial review.
The company said TSMC identified the issue early due to its “comprehensive, powerful monitoring mechanism”, adding that it conducted a quick internal investigation.
Nikkei Asia, citing reports from multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported Tuesday that several former employees of TSMC were suspected of trying to obtain key proprietary information about the development and production of 2nm chips while still working at the company.
The production of 2nm chips is one of the cutting-edge manufacturing processes in the semiconductor industry at present. TSMC said when CNBC asked about the Nikkei report, it had no other information to share.
As the world's leading chip manufacturer, TSMC has a treasure trove of intellectual property rights. The company has previously said that more than 200,000 trade secrets have been recorded in its internal system.
This is not the first time that TSMC has become a target of potential theft. In 2018, a Taiwanese court sued a former employee to replicate commercial secretion related to the 28-nanometer manufacturing process with an intention to transfer it to a semiconductor company in mainland China.
In 2023, ASMLIt's the machine needed to make the most advanced chips, he said, and it found that a former employee in China had stolen data related to its proprietary technology.