Intel says ex-TSMC hire brought no trade secrets

Intel said it is not taking any confidential material from TSMC, and the company made that clear on Thursday.

Lip‑Bu Tan, the still-new CEO, pushed back after reports from Taiwan claimed a recent hire may have carried trade secrets into Intel.

Lip-Bu said the company follows the rules, and he brushed off the noise in a way that sounded like he had already moved on. He said, “It’s rumor and speculation. There’s nothing to it. We respect IP.”

Taiwanese newspapers spent the whole week talking about how Lo Wen‑jen, a 75‑year‑old former senior figure at TSMC who retired in July and then joined Intel a few weeks ago, had taken proprietary knowledge from TSMC right before he left.

Then John Nieh from Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office said officials are checking if anyone broke any law. For Taiwan, this matters because TSMC now sits at more than $1.15 trillion in market value, and its manufacturing methods are treated like national assets.

Taiwan starts checks and TSMC opens its own review

TSMC also began an internal review to see if Lo left with anything he should not have taken. A person with direct knowledge allegedly told Bloomberg the company is looking for signs of any loss or damage, but the person also said TSMC has not reached any conclusion.

Lo held major roles inside TSMC before he retired, including leading corporate strategy and running research and technology development. He helped push several advanced chips into mass production, including chips used for AI accelerators. He also holds honors from Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, one of the country’s most respected science bodies.

Before Lo worked at TSMC, he spent time at Intel beginning in 2004. Back then, he handled advanced technology development and even ran a factory in Santa Clara, California. He holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he focused on solid state physics and surface chemistry.

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Kung Ming‑hsin, said, “The government is concerned with national security implications,” though he did not share any details.

Later the same day, Minister Wu Cheng‑wen from the National Science and Technology Council said TSMC is still looking into the situation.

The relationship between Intel and TSMC has stayed tense over the last few years. Intel is trying to rebuild its lead in chip technology, while TSMC is the only company able to make the most advanced chips used by Apple and Nvidia. The two companies work together, but they also compete, which makes moves like this even more sensitive.

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said many times that the U. S. was taking a big risk by depending so heavily on TSMC for leading‑edge chips.

He pointed to growing tension in the Taiwan Strait and said the country needed a stronger manufacturing base at home. That view created friction between the companies long before Lip-Bu stepped in.

Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.