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Ex-TSMC employees receive final sentences in trade secret leak case

Published

30 July 2026

Topic

regulatory

Sectors

Semiconductors

Geography

Taiwan

Source

Read at focustaiwan.tw

Verified

Fusion42 · 30 July 2026 · Fusion42 review

Former TSMC employees have received final prison sentences of up to 10 years for leaking trade secrets related to 2nm and 14nm processes to equipment supplier Tokyo Electron Taiwan. The case marks the first corporate indictment under Taiwan's National Security Act for the leakage of "national core key technologies."

This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Semiconductors. Wire is Fusion42's founder-focused intelligence feed: each story is connected to the funds and startups it names — every one with a live profile on Raise or Scout — so founders can follow the capital and the momentum behind the headline rather than just the headline itself. Wire analysis is one of the live surfaces Arthur reasons over.

◆ The Wire takeaway

Poaching semiconductor talent in Taiwan is no longer a commercial risk; it's now treated as a national security crime. A decade in prison is the new penalty for engineers who bring trade secrets with them, and the company doing the hiring faces indictment.

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Topics

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