Taiwanese authorities are investigating whether SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), China’s largest chipmaker and the third-largest foundry in the world, has broken local laws by secretly recruiting engineers to gain valuable technical information from Taiwanese semiconductor factories.
Taiwanese Authorities Investigate SMIC
Between March 18 and March 28, Taiwanese authorities raided 34 locations across six cities. During this time, officials from Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice examined operations linked to 11 Chinese companies and questioned over 90 individuals regarding suspected violations of local laws on talent poaching by Chinese firms.
The investigation found that several of these companies, mostly operating in the semiconductor industry, had set up illegal offices without government approval. SMIC specifically was accused of using a registered company to secretly recruit Taiwanese engineers. The investigation also revealed that other Chinese companies created unauthorized local entities to recruit workers for advanced projects, including silicon photonics, a rapidly growing field for AI data centers and next-gen high-performance computing.
SMIC’s Goal
Earlier, SMIC announced its achievement of 7nm manufacturing technology and is preparing to produce 6nm chips soon. Interestingly, HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei, alongside SMIC, is looking into technologies like silicon photonics to develop chips for AI and other advanced applications.
The Taiwanese authorities also discovered a company named Clounix, which allegedly hired numerous specialists from major companies like Intel and Microsoft. Clounix first disguised itself as a local firm and later as a Singapore-based chip design company to avoid scrutiny.
