TSMC, the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced AI chips, has initiated legal proceedings and taken disciplinary actions against employees involved in a potential commercial secret leak. This followed the discovery of unauthorized activity during routine monitoring.
The Taiwanese semiconductor company said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Tuesday that its “comprehensive and reliable monitoring mechanisms” allowed early detection of the issue, leading to swift internal investigations and strict measures against the culprits.
According to TSMC, the case is currently in court, so the company cannot provide further details.
Earlier, Nikkei Asia reported that several former employees were involved in the data security breach, suspected of attempting to obtain critically confidential information about TSMC’s 2-nanometer chip technology.
Nikkei noted it is still unclear what the former employees planned to do with the information and whether it was passed to third parties. Investigations are ongoing to determine the scale of the leak and possible involvement of others.
According to the company’s website, TSMC’s 2-nanometer chip technology is the most advanced in the semiconductor industry in terms of density and energy efficiency.
The contract semiconductor manufacturer, working with leading clients such as Nvidia, Apple, and Qualcomm, emphasized its zero-tolerance policy for trade secret violations and said it intends to prosecute those responsible in court.
Recently, TSMC secured a contract from Nvidia to produce 300,000 H20 chipsets.