Overview

• Taiwan prosecutors detained three current and former TSMC employees on August 5 under the National Security Law for allegedly stealing images of 2-nanometer semiconductor circuit designs.
• TSMC discovered unauthorized access to its proprietary chip designs during an internal investigation and filed a formal complaint with prosecutors.
• Tokyo Electron confirmed that a former employee at its Taiwanese subsidiary was involved and was dismissed for their role in the information theft.
• Tokyo Electron said it has found no signs of external distribution of the seized materials and will fully cooperate with Taiwanese investigators.
• Investigators are extending the espionage probe to a Japanese semiconductor equipment firm that hired the ex-TSMC employee after their resignation.