Law enforcement officers on Thursday searched five locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, questioned nine people and two executives as part of a probe into alleged talent poaching by a Chinese company.
New Taipei City prosecutors collected evidence at the Taipei office of RogersAI Technology Co (羅傑斯人工智能) and other sites of the firm, which is allegedly covertly owned by China-based cryptocurrency mining company Bitmain Technologies (比特大陸科技).
RogersAI chairman Lin Chen-ting (林承廷) and chief executive officer Luo Shih-chieh (羅士傑) were released on bail.
Photo: Bloomberg
Lin and Luo allegedly sought to recruit Taiwanese engineers with expertise in artificial intelligence, facial recognition technologies, biometric authentication and other fields, prosecutor Hsu Hung-wei (許宏緯) said, adding that the firm spent about NT$150 million (US$5.05 million) on the efforts over the past two years.
RogersAI allegedly targeted talent at local technology firms, such as the research-and-development division of Delta Electronics and the Hon Hai Research Institute, enticing about 50 staff to change employers, Hsu said.
The probe focuses on fund transactions at RogersAI and its ownership structure, Hsu said, adding that the company is allegedly a subsidiary of China-based Fujian KuKe3D Technology Co (福建庫克智能科技), which is owned by Bitmain.
Hsu said RogersAI seems to have been set up solely for talent poaching purposes.
Lin and Luo allegedly hold executive positions at Fujian KuKe3D, he added.
“Illegal talent poaching by Chinese firms poses a serious threat and undermines the development of the local high-tech sector,” Hsu said.
Lin and Luo faced pending charges of contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which requires Chinese firms to seek approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs before investing in Taiwan.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
A promotional event for the launch of a drinks store led to police questioning a 26-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), the Taichung Police Department said yesterday. Police said that they questioned Chang and forwarded the case to prosecutors, accusing her of producing, distributing, broadcasting or selling pornography. Police said she faces charges related to the alleged distribution of indecent photographs on Twitter and using overtly sexual innuendos to promote the store on Monday night. Officers stumbled upon the content during a routine Internet “patrol.” Chang faces a prison sentence of up to two years and up to a NT$90,000 fine if found guilty
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
MORE WARNINGS: If the US company does not clarify and solve issues with its frozen berries, the FDA might extend an import suspension implemented last month, it said The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain. Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April. The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later
RSS