After Hours International》TSMC's Secret Leak Scandal Explodes! Yang Kuang-lei: TSMC Has Faced Two Crises in History, But the Worst Fear is Being 'Poor to the Point of Having Only Money'

TSMC has recently seen a string of major leaks involving advanced manufacturing processes, with individuals accused of photographing process documents and others charged with reproducing 21 classified national core technologies and trade secrets, even attempting to poach talent to build a semiconductor base in China. Can a single photo or 21 documents truly steal decades of accumulated technology from TSMC?

Yang Kuang-lei, former R&D director at TSMC, stated on the program 'After Hours International' that even if a single process secret is fully obtained, it typically represents only a 'one-time' technological achievement. The real determinant of competitiveness, he said, is whether the thief can innovate again, build a research and development organization, and achieve mass production as TSMC moves on to the next-generation process.

Stealing a map doesn’t mean you can build the road

With the AI boom, tech espionage has surged. Host Lu Yi-chen pointed out on 'After Hours International' that TSMC has recently experienced multiple major leaks: in April this year, Chen Li-ming, a former engineer at Tokyo Electron, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing TSMC’s trade secrets, and Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan subsidiary was fined NT$150 million. In July, prosecutors charged TSMC’s former deputy manager Chen Chih-chien under the National Security Act, alleging he was recruited by Hong Kong resident Ting Hsiao-hu to conspire in poaching TSMC talent and copying 21 core technical documents to build a semiconductor plant across the strait.

The question is: can 21 documents really steal 30 years of TSMC’s technology and help a rival build an advanced process wafer fab?

Yang Kuang-lei cited the development of SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) as an example. In its early days, SMIC faced technological bottlenecks at 40nm and 28nm. It wasn’t until former TSMC senior R&D executive Dr. Morris Chang’s protégé, Dr. Liang Mong-song, joined that SMIC resumed advancing from 28nm to more advanced nodes. This shows that what drives continuous technological progress isn’t just documents, but people with integration capabilities, judgment, and experience leading teams.

Yang mentioned the 'Roger Luo incident' as TSMC’s biggest leak case. Luo had access to vast amounts of information, yet his impact on Intel was limited because Intel employees are highly proud and many secrets are traceable. The 'Roger Luo incident' refers to former TSMC Senior VP of R&D Luo Wei-jen, who 'joined the enemy with weapons' after retiring in July 2025. He is accused of using his authority before departure to photocopy and obtain TSMC’s 2nm and other advanced process trade secrets. TSMC filed a lawsuit, and Taiwan’s prosecutors launched a high-profile investigation under suspicion of violating the National Security Act.

Vice President Hsiao Mei-chin (left) presenting a certificate to Luo Wei-jen (right), former Senior VP of R&D at TSMC. (Provided by the Presidential Office)

TSMC’s two major historical crises were not due to stolen technology

Yang Kuang-lei recalled that TSMC has experienced two clear market crises in the past. The first was the 2000 internet bubble, when TSMC’s stock price plummeted from over NT$200 to around NT$70. The second was the global financial and subprime crisis from 2008 to 2009.

The commonality of these shocks was not that TSMC suddenly lost its process capabilities, but that major customers and global market demand froze overnight. TSMC’s largest customers are mostly American companies; as long as these firms remain profitable and keep placing orders, TSMC can grow. But if customers stop earning and cut investments, TSMC faces pressure too.

This illustrates that TSMC’s systemic risks aren’t limited to 'tech spies'—global economic conditions, AI investment returns, customer capital expenditures, and geopolitical factors could have far greater and longer-lasting impacts than any single leak case.

On the 27th, the first-instance verdict in TSMC’s 2nm leak case was announced. The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court sentenced TSMC engineer Ko I-ping (pictured) to two years in prison for violating the National Security Act and other charges. (Central News Agency)

Being 'poor to the point of having only money' is the core of the leak crisis

Regarding engineers who may have risked everything for financial temptation, Yang Kuang-lei issued a solemn warning: 'Poor to the point of having only money.' He said that if a person sees only money, they easily sacrifice reputation, career, and personal values for short-term gains. The thief gains only limited rewards but pays with legal risks, professional credibility, family life, and a lifetime of reputation.

Yang believes the core issue in such cases is how to let the good in human nature prevail and prevent money from bringing out the dark side. Companies can strengthen monitoring, ban photography, and track download records, but if employees don’t identify with the organization or professional ethics, even the strongest firewalls can be bypassed.

Yang’s warning: the truly terrifying crisis for TSMC isn’t necessarily a one-time theft of technology, but when more and more people believe everything has a price. When an industry is rich enough to control the world’s most advanced technology, but the people within it are 'poor to the point of having only money,' that’s a black hole no firewall can stop.