Entities from China have previously been linked to such violations at TSMC.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has stated that it has discovered unauthorized activities by personnel leading to information leaks in the company, according to a recent disclosure.
“TSMC recently detected unauthorized activities during routine monitoring, leading to the discovery of potential trade secret leaks,” the company said in an Aug. 5 statement emailed to The Epoch Times. “Following an internal investigation, thanks to our comprehensive and robust monitoring mechanisms, we were able to identify the issue early. TSMC has taken strict disciplinary actions against the personnel involved and has initiated legal proceedings.”
Further details were not available as the case is under judicial review.
TSMC is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It has operations worldwide, with U.S. branches located in California, Washington, and Arizona.
In March, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei joined President Donald Trump at the White House to announce a $100 billion investment in its Arizona-based semiconductor chip manufacturing operation. Since then, the company has raised the amount to more than $165 billion.
Chinese actors have previously been linked to multiple incidents of trade leak instigations involving TSMC employees.
Regarding the latest incident, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said in a statement that three individuals were detained late last month after TSMC reported the findings of an internal investigation.
The individuals, two current staff and a former employee, are suspected of violating Taiwan’s national security law, it added.
The prosecutors office said two other individuals had been released on bail, with another getting released.
TSMC is currently developing its 2 nm (N2) chips, which, when completed, would be the “most advanced technology in the semiconductor industry in terms of both density and energy efficiency,” the manufacturer said on its website.
In April 2018, a former TSMC employee was arrested by authorities for planning to steal documents related to the company’s 28-nanometer (nm) chip technology.
The employee aimed to take these documents to his new job at CSMC Technologies, a Chinese chipmaker, and reproduce the technology. He was sentenced to a prison term of about 18 months.
Later that year, another former TSMC employee was charged with theft of trade secrets and breach of trust. The individual oversaw three different chip technologies at TSMC: 20 nm, 10 nm, and 5 nm. The employee allegedly aimed to hand over the secrets to a Chinese company, Shanghai Huali Microelectronics.
There has also been a significant uptick in the number of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies operating in Taiwan.
