TAIPEI — Taiwanese prosecutors are pushing for a 14-year prison sentence for a former TSMC employee accused of leaking trade secrets to Tokyo Electron, a Japanese supplier of chipmaking equipment.
The man, surnamed Chen, is one of three individuals charged in the case. Authorities say Chen, after leaving Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for a job at Tokyo Electron, solicited confidential information about TSMC’s advanced 2-nanometre chip technology from former colleagues.
The stolen data was allegedly used to help Tokyo Electron compete for supplier contracts, prosecutors said on Wednesday. They emphasized that this marks the first prosecution under Taiwan’s National Security Law involving the theft of core chipmaking technologies.
“Such violations are dealt with strictly and pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” TSMC said in a statement, reaffirming its zero-tolerance policy on trade secret breaches.
Tokyo Electron has yet to issue a statement in response to the charges. However, the company previously acknowledged that a former employee of its Taiwan subsidiary was under investigation.
TSMC’s 2nm process is one of the most advanced in the world, known for its high transistor density and energy efficiency, critical in powering next-gen smartphones and AI chips.
The case has sparked serious concern in Taiwan, home to some of the world’s most valuable semiconductor IP. Prosecutors have framed it as not just corporate espionage, but a national security threat.
