A former ASML Holding NV employee is facing a lawsuit in the Netherlands over suspected theft of trade secrets, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said, in the latest breach of the maker of advanced chip-manufacturing equipment.
The 43-year-old Russian engineer, who is suspected of stealing documents such as microchip manuals from ASML, is expected to appear at a court in Rotterdam today, NOS reported on Friday.
He is accused of multiple violations of the sanctions legislation and has been given a 20-year entry ban by the Dutch government, the report said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The Dutch company makes machines needed to produce high-end chips that power everything from electric vehicles to military gear, and it has benefited from a surge in artificial intelligence spending.
It has also been the target of earlier data breaches.
ASML accused a former Chinese employee of stealing chip data last year.
The former worker took data from a software system that the corporation uses to store technical information about its machinery. The employee then went on to work for China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
ASML has previously accused Dongfang Jingyuan Electron Ltd (東方晶源微電子科技) of obtaining its technology and transferring it to China.
One engineer was accused of stealing all 2 million lines of source code for critical ASML software and then sharing part of it with employees at Dongfang and a related company in the US, according to transcripts of the proceedings.
The accused Russian engineer worked for Dutch firm Mapper Lithography BV, which was declared bankrupt in 2018.
ASML agreed to acquire the company’s assets and its employees in 2019.
“We are aware of the lawsuit against a former Mapper and ASML employee,” ASML’s spokesperson Monique Mols said.
“In accordance with our policy, we have also filed a report ourselves. We will not comment further during the lawsuit,” she said.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest