Luo Weiren, who previously served as the senior vice - president in charge of corporate strategy development at TSMC, retired at the end of July this year. Just last month, he assumed the position of vice - president of R&D at Intel, where he is tasked with overseeing the development of cutting - edge equipment and modules. This role holds significant sway over Intel's production yield. However, Intel has remained tight - lipped and has not issued any response to this news.

Rumors have it that TSMC usually requires its retired or departing executives to sign non - compete agreements. But in Luo Weiren's case, no such agreement was signed. According to industry insiders, it is alleged that prior to his retirement, Luo Weiren took advantage of his authority to make photocopies of a substantial amount of confidential information related to TSMC's advanced process technology. At present, TSMC is in the process of collecting evidence and closely monitoring his actions. If the allegations are proven to be true, it would amount to a violation of trade secrets.

Since joining TSMC in 2004, Luo Weiren has been the driving force behind numerous advanced process upgrades. Under his leadership, the team has secured over 15,000 patents.