Tokyo Electron Ltd yesterday said it has fired an employee at its Taiwan subsidiary over their alleged involvement in a trade secret leak at Taiwanese chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
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” last month, the High Prosecutors’ Office said this week.
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TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer and counts Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc among its clients.
Taiwanese media have reported that the leaked information was related to TSMC’s most advanced 2-nanometer 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.
The sacked Tokyo Electron staff member previously worked for TSMC and is among those detained, a source said.
Tokyo Electron is a major producer of chipmaking equipment used by TSMC, winning last year’s TSMC Excellent Performance Award for both “technology collaboration and production support.”
Another client is Japanese chipmaker Rapidus Corp, which is building a plant in Hokkaido to make 2-nanometer chips. Rapidus chairman Tetsuro Higashi was 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,” the company added.
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.
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