Overview

• Three defendants were formally charged, with prosecutors recommending 14 years for a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen and seeking nine and seven years for two co-defendants.
• TSMC says routine monitoring flagged unusual file access tied to its 2nm process, prompting an internal probe, dismissals, and a referral to law enforcement.
• Prosecutors allege Chen, after moving to Tokyo Electron, solicited 2nm process details from TSMC staff to help improve the supplier’s etching equipment.
• Tokyo Electron said it dismissed an employee at its Taipei unit connected to the probe and is cooperating with authorities, while it has not confirmed any data transfer to third parties.
• The case proceeds under strengthened national-security provisions for ‘national core key technologies,’ and TSMC maintains any accessed information was compartmentalized and not immediately usable.