by Debby Wu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has discovered a possible leak of trade secrets related to its advanced chipmaking techniques, and has taken action against staff deemed responsible.
The chipmaker to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. has initiated legal proceedings, TSMC said in a statement without elaborating. On Tuesday, the Nikkei reported that TSMC had fired several employees suspected of attempting to obtain critical proprietary information on 2-nanometer chip development. That next-generation semiconductor process is entering mass production in the second half of this year, and will eventually power a plethora of devices from smartphones to AI accelerators.
The world’s biggest chipmaker conducted an internal investigation and identified the issue “early,” TSMC said in its statement.
The race to secure a leading role in the artificial intelligence era has made cutting-edge chips and memory a prized asset. Investment in chipmaking development is at an all-time high, as TSMC and closest rival Samsung Electronics Co. set aside more than $30 billion in annual capital expenditures, while US and Chinese companies vie to develop the most advanced technology.
China’s progress has stalled several generations behind TSMC, with Huawei Technologies Co. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. now fabricating silicon at 7nm. In the US, Intel Corp. is at a more advanced stage.
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