World's largest chipmaker TSMC says it has discovered potential trade secret leaks

The company is building three such plants in Arizona.TSMCTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said on Tuesday that it had detected "unauthorized activities" that lead to the discovery of potential trade secret leaks.The world's biggest semiconductor manufacturer told CNBC that it has taken "strict" disciplinary action against the personnel involved and that it has also launched legal ceedings."TSMC maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward any actions that commise the tection of trade secrets or harm the company's interests," the company said."Such violations are dealt with strictly and pursued to the fullest extent of the law

We remain committed to safeguarding our core competitiveness and the d interests of all our employees."Semiconductors have grown in strategic importance in recent years as they have become the key pillar in the boom in artificial intelligence models and applications

Rising geopolitical tensions has put the spotlight on the competitive nological advantages of major firms in the chip supply chain TSMC and other leaders across the board.TSMC, headquartered in Taiwan, dominates the market for the manufacturing of the world's most advanced chips and counts major giants including Apple and Nvidia as clients.As the case is now under judicial review, TSMC is unable to vide further information, the firm said.TSMC identified the issue early due to its "comprehensive and robust monitoring mechanisms," the company said, adding that it carried out swift internal investigations.Nikkei Asia, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported on Tuesday that several former employees of TSMC are suspected of attempting to obtain critical prietary information on 2-nanometer chip development and duction while they were still working at the company.duction of the 2-nanometer chip is among the leading edge manufacturing cesses in the semiconductor industry currently

TSMC said it did not have any additional information to when asked by CNBC the Nikkei report.As the world's leading chipmaker, TSMC has a treasure trove of intellectual perty

By its own account, the company has previously said it has more than 200,000 trade secrets recorded in its internal system.It is not the first time that TSMC has been the target for potential theft

In 2018, a Taiwanese court indicted a former employee for copying trade secretes related to the 28-nanometer fabrication cess, with intent to transfer them to a semiconductor company in mainland China.In 2023, ASML, which makes machines that are required to manufacture the most advanced chips, said that it discovered that a former employee in China had misappriated data related to its prietary nology.