Taiwan prosecutors announced on November 19 that they are investigating former TSMC senior vice president for corporate strategy development Lo Wei‑jen, who retired in July 2025 after 21 years and joined Intel in late October 2025.
The investigation centers on allegations that Lo transferred proprietary data related to TSMC’s 2 nm, A16, and A14 process technologies to Intel. The data in question includes design blueprints, manufacturing parameters, and material‑science innovations that underpin the next‑generation chip nodes.
TSMC has not issued a statement, and Intel has not yet responded. The case highlights the company’s zero‑tolerance policy for IP violations and may prompt a review of its exit‑process protocols, which currently require senior staff to sign non‑compete agreements and undergo a data‑sanitization review before leaving the company.
The probe follows a separate August 2025 indictment of three TSMC engineers for stealing 2 nm technology, underscoring a pattern of IP theft that Taiwan’s National Security Law and Trade Secret Act are designed to deter. Taiwan’s N‑1 policy, which keeps advanced semiconductor technology in Taiwan, adds a national‑security dimension to the case.
If the allegations are proven, the investigation could delay TSMC’s planned mass production of its 2 nm process later this year and could erode confidence among key customers such as Apple and Nvidia. It also raises the possibility of regulatory penalties and could force the company to tighten its non‑compete clauses and access controls for senior executives.
Taiwan Economy Minister Kung Ming‑hsin said the government would cooperate with prosecutors and monitor the impact on the semiconductor industry. Liu Pei‑chen, director of Taiwan Industry Economics Research, warned that the talent race makes protecting proprietary technology increasingly critical and suggested that TSMC may need to adopt more granular access controls to safeguard its competitive moat.
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