[News] Intel Stands Firm on Lo Hire Amid TSMC Trade Secret Dispute: CEO Vows Support, Dismisses Claims

Amid controversy over former TSMC SVP Wei-Jen Lo joining Intel amid sub-2nm trade secret claims, Team Blue has finally spoken out. Oregon Live reports that CEO Lip-Bu Tan reassured employees Wednesday that the company acted responsibly in hiring Lo, pushing back against the new lawsuit from the Taiwanese foundry giant.

TSMC filed suit against former Lo on November 25, alleging he breached nondisclosure agreements by joining Intel as VP soon after retiring. However, in an internal memo reviewed by Oregon Live, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan dismissed the claims, saying the allegations “lack merit” and affirming that Lo “continues to have our full support.”

The report suggests that Intel, in its first public response, confirmed Lo’s hiring, saying the veteran executive will help reinvigorate the company’s engineering culture. Citing Tan’s memo to employees, Oregon Live notes that Lo will join the company’s manufacturing organization and play a role in its packaging operations.

According to Oregon Live, Intel said it has welcomed back Lo, who previously spent 18 years developing wafer-processing technologies at the company before moving to TSMC, as part of the company’s ongoing transformation push.

Notably, Oregon Live points out that in his Wednesday email, Tan emphasized that “the freedom to work, to apply our expertise, and to move between companies has been a foundation of semiconductor innovation since the industry’s earliest days”—a remark some might see as a subtle nod to recent high-profile executive moves.

Rivalry and Collaboration Entwined

Wccftech notes that Intel’s process technologies—18A and beyond—differ from TSMC’s in key ways, including PowerVia and RibbonFET, and that Intel is an early adopter of High-NA EUV, which TSMC has yet to deploy. Any advantage from Lo’s move, Intel says, comes mainly from his insight into supply chain dynamics and U.S. customer needs for external foundry services—not technology transfer, according to the report.

The relationship between TSMC and Intel is a fascinating mix of rivalry and reliance. Investing.com reports that Intel confirmed it will continue leaning heavily on external foundries—potentially placing orders with TSMC “forever.”

TSMC handles the entire Lunar Lake lineup for Intel, and much of Arrow Lake is also outsourced, according to Investing.com. Economic Daily News previously noted that Intel has joined AMD and Apple as part of TSMC’s first wave of 2nm clients, with its Compute Tile for Nova Lake—slated for a 2026 launch—entrusted to the Taiwanese foundry.

Read more

• [News] Beyond Ex-VP Lo, Intel Is Reportedly Poaching TSMC Arizona Engineers With 20–30% Higher Salaries
• [News] TSMC Sues Ex-SVP Lo Over Undisclosed Intel Move: Non-Compete, Trade Secrets, and What’s Next

(Photo credit: Intel)