Intel is fighting back hard against accusations that its star executive hire stole trade secrets from TSMC. The legal battle erupted this week when TSMC sued Wei-Jen Lo, a veteran semiconductor engineer who joined Intel this fall to help revive the company's manufacturing capabilities. With Taiwanese prosecutors now raiding homes and seizing evidence, this dispute could reshape executive mobility in the chip industry.
The semiconductor industry's most explosive executive poaching scandal just got uglier. Intel is standing firm against accusations that Wei-Jen Lo, its blockbuster hire from rival TSMC, walked away with trade secrets when he switched teams this fall.
TSMC isn't pulling punches. The Taiwan-based chipmaker filed a lawsuit this week alleging Lo violated his employment contract, noncompete agreement, and Taiwan's Trade Secrets Act. "There is a high probability that Lo uses, leaks, discloses or transfers TSMC's trade secrets and confidential information to Intel, thus making legal actions necessary," TSMC said in its filing.
Lo's career reads like a semiconductor hall of fame resume. The Taiwanese engineer first worked at Intel during its boom years in the 1980s, then jumped to TSMC in 2004, where he helped oversee the company's rise to become the world's most valuable chipmaker. His return to Intel this fall was seen as a major coup for the struggling American giant, which hired him specifically to improve mass production processes.
But the stakes just escalated dramatically. Taiwanese prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Lo, with investigators raiding two of his homes and seizing computers, USB drives, and other potential evidence, according to Reuters. Authorities may also freeze Lo's real estate holdings and stock portfolio.
Intel is fighting back with its own legal firepower. "Based on everything we know, we have no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations involving Mr. Lo," an Intel spokesperson told Reuters. The company emphasized its strict policies prohibiting the transfer of third-party confidential information. "We take these commitments seriously," Intel added.
This isn't Taiwan's first rodeo with semiconductor espionage cases. The island nation has already indicted three other people this year in a separate case involving alleged theft of chip-making technology to help a Japanese competitor, . Taiwan treats its semiconductor crown jewels as matters of national security.
