[TAIPEI] Tokyo Electron said on Thursday (Aug 7) it has fired an employee at its Taiwan subsidiary over their alleged involvement in a trade secret leak at Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC.
The Japanese firm issued a statement after media reports said Taiwanese authorities had searched its Hsinchu office as part of a probe into the breach.
Six people were arrested after TSMC discovered the leak involving “national core technology” in July, Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office said this week.
TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer and counts Nvidia and Apple among its clients.
Taiwanese media have reported that the leaked information was related to TSMC’s most advanced two-nanometre chip technology.
A former employee and two current TSMC staff members have been detained, while two other employees were released on bail and another freed without any conditions, prosecutors said.
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The sacked Tokyo Electron staff member previously worked for TSMC and is among those detained, a source with knowledge of the investigation told AFP.
Tokyo Electron is a major producer of chipmaking equipment used by TSMC, winning the 2024 TSMC Excellent Performance Award for both “technology collaboration and production support”.
Another client is Japanese chipmaker Rapidus, which is building a plant in Hokkaido to make two-nanometre chips.
Rapidus chairman Tetsuro Higashi is a former president of Tokyo Electron.
Tokyo Electron said it sacked its staff member after they were “confirmed to be involved in an incident announced by Taiwanese judicial authorities on August 5”.
“The company has terminated their employment and is fully cooperating with the investigation by Taiwanese judicial authorities,” Tokyo Electron said.
“An internal investigation has revealed no leaks of confidential information so far.”
In a statement, TSMC said it had taken “strict disciplinary actions against the personnel involved” in the “potential trade secret leaks”.
TSMC did not provide details about the technology involved in the suspected leaks. AFP
