TSMC allegedly investigating veteran who joined Intel for stolen secrets of most advanced 2 nm A14 and A16 process nodes

After a disastrous few years where the company lost its consumer CPU market lead to AMD and its semiconductor manufacturing lead to TSMC, Intel appears to be gaining momentum again. Under the leadership of former CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel initiated an ambitious “five nodes in four years” plan to return to its former position as a market leader in semiconductor manufacturing. The latest result of the plan is Intel 18A, one of the most advanced process nodes in the world, which is utilized in the upcoming Intel Panther Lake mobile CPUs.

However, Intel is not stopping. Armed with a fresh $5 billion investment from Nvidia, Intel is ramping up its efforts to develop advanced future process nodes through R&D and hiring industry talent/leaders. One of the most important hires Intel made recently is Wei-Jen Lo, a retired TSMC veteran. It seems TSMC didn’t like this and is reportedly looking to prosecute Wei-Jen Lo on charges related to stealing company secrets.

Per a new report, TSMC is collecting evidence against Wei-Jen Lo. Wei-Jen Lo, TSMC’s former Senior Vice President of R&D, allegedly asked employees to produce technical briefings regarding the TSMC 2 nm A14 and A16 nodes, reports Taiwanese publication United Daily News. He allegedly took these “confidential” technical details with him when he left TSMC. However, TSMC has yet to file an official complaint against Wei-Jen Lo.

Wei-Jen Lo is credited with leading TSMC to develop the 10 nm process node in 2016, a time when Intel was the largest chipmaker in the world. So, the report that TSMC is looking to file a case against a decorated former executive is quite a big development, one that could potentially involve Intel down the road.

TSMC, being the backbone of the Taiwanese economy, has naturally attracted the attention of the Taiwanese government to this matter. United Daily News reports that Taiwan’s Prosecutor's Office is investigating the matter in light of the National Security Act and the Trade Secret Act.

We’ll soon know more whether TSMC goes after Wei-Jen Lo or things settle down. In the meantime, we have the Intel Panther Lake chips to look forward to. Based on the cutting-edge Intel 18A process node, Panther Lake processors have a lot to prove for Intel. Laptops powered by PTL chips are expected to debut early next year.

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