Taiwan’s Top Chipmaker TSMC Accuses Former Vice President of Passing Confidential Information to US Rival Intel

Whispers from inside Taiwan’s most important chipmaker have turned into open legal warfare.

TSMC has taken its own former senior leadership to court, accusing a long-serving executive of walking out the door with trade secrets and delivering them straight into the hands of its fiercest American rival.

TSMC Alleges Trade Secrets Were Passed to Intel After Sudden Career Switch

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has filed a lawsuit against former senior vice-president Lo Wei-jen, stating there is a “high probability” that he passed confidential company information to Intel, where he is now executive vice-president.

The legal action has been submitted to Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court and is grounded in Lo’s employment contract, his non-compete agreement, and Taiwan’s Trade Secrets Act.

According to TSMC, Lo retired in July and transferred to Intel almost immediately — a move that raised serious internal alarms.

During his exit interview, Lo reportedly told TSMC’s legal counsel, Sylvia Fang, that he was planning to join an “academic institution.”

The company later discovered this statement was untrue.

Meetings With R&D Teams Raised Internal Red Flags

TSMC stated that Lo was reassigned to its corporate strategy unit in March the previous year.

Despite the new role, he continued attending meetings with research and development teams.

The company now believes these sessions were allegedly used “to provide information for him to understand the advanced technologies currently, and planned to be, under development by TSMC.”

In its filing, the company warned that Lo likely “uses, leaks, discloses, delivers, or transfers TSMC’s trade secrets and confidential information to Intel,” prompting it to move forward with legal action, including potential claims for damages.

Source: sec.gov

Government Steps In as National Security Questions Emerge

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed it is closely watching the case and will evaluate whether the situation evolves beyond a contractual dispute into a national security matter.

The ministry said it would work with prosecutors and investigators to determine whether there are “violations of the National Security Act.”

The seriousness of the investigation has already led Taiwanese prosecutors to open a separate probe into the circumstances surrounding Lo’s departure from TSMC.

Intel Responds as Market Reacts to Allegations

Intel’s chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, denied any wrongdoing.

Speaking to Bloomberg, he said his “company respects intellectual property rights.”

Markets reacted swiftly.

Intel’s shares slid by around 1.5% in mid-morning trading, while TSMC moved in the opposite direction, climbing approximately 3% on the day.

AI Boom and Political Pressure Add to the Stakes

The case comes at a sensitive moment for the global chip industry.

TSMC stands at the heart of the AI expansion, supplying major customers including Nvidia and Apple, both of which continue to pour vast sums into chips, servers and data-centre projects.

Nvidia has already announced plans to invest US$5 billion into Intel, a company still working to regain its position in chip manufacturing.

The move aligns with US President Donald Trump’s push to boost domestic semiconductor production in the United States.

Once central to TSMC’s research and technology development, Lo played a key role in enabling mass production of chips now used in AI accelerators.

His sudden transition to a struggling but strategically backed Intel has intensified concerns across Taiwan’s technology and security sectors.

Now valued at more than US$1.15 trillion, TSMC’s data, techniques and talent remain among the most closely guarded assets in the global economy — and this lawsuit puts the silent war over chip supremacy firmly in the public eye.