Overview

• TSMC’s monitoring systems flagged unauthorized access in July to files detailing its 2-nanometer process, prompting a swift internal investigation.
• Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office has detained two current employees and one former staffer under the first enforcement of the amended National Security Act for sub-14nm technology.
• Investigators searched Tokyo Electron’s Hsinchu office as part of the inquiry, and the Japanese equipment maker has dismissed a Taiwan subsidiary employee linked to the case.
• TSMC has fired the personnel involved and initiated legal proceedings while pledging full cooperation with prosecutors to secure its proprietary trade secrets.
• Authorities are now focused on determining whether the leaked 2nm technology was transmitted to external parties or foreign recipients.