Intel boss Lip-Bu Tan jumped in to back the company after TSMC filed a lawsuit over their hiring Dr Wei-Jen Lo away from the Taiwan chipmaker. The exec worked at Intel for 18 years before bouncing to TSMC and is heading back to Team Blue despite accusations that he might leak trade secrets about wafer processing tech.
Tan shot down any claims about IP theft and said Intel has strict rules against using confidential stuff from competitors. The company pointed out that their tech, like PowerVia and RibbonFET, works differently from what TSMC does anyway, plus they adopted High-NA EUV equipment before the Taiwan giant even touched it. The real value from bringing Lo back might just be his knowledge about what American clients want from foundry services, rather than any actual technology transfer.
Tan shot down any claims about IP theft and said Intel has strict rules against using confidential stuff from competitors. The company pointed out that their tech, like PowerVia and RibbonFET, works differently from what TSMC does anyway, plus they adopted High-NA EUV equipment before the Taiwan giant even touched it. The real value from bringing Lo back might just be his knowledge about what American clients want from foundry services, rather than any actual technology transfer.
