Report said that prosecutors in Taiwan have accused Bitmain Technologies of illegally poaching more than 100 Taiwanese engineers.
It has been reported that a probe has already been launched in New Taipei and Hsinchu, Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing hub, to investigate the activities of the Chinese crypto mining chipmaker.
However, the New Taipei Prosecutors Office says as part of the illegal poaching enterprise, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining chip maker allegedly set up shell companies that were used for illicit recruitment.
It added:
“We discovered that Bitmain has been poaching Taiwanese research and development talent to speed up its efforts on artificial intelligence chip capability by illegally setting up companies in Taiwan. The newly established companies served a headhunting purpose and the timespan of what Bitmain did dates back to 2018.”
The report said that the move by Taiwanese officials comes as Beijing is upping the ante on its own chip manufacturing industry. Semiconductors are reportedly going to be a focus item at the National People’s Congress which begins on March 12.
Bitmain Technologies has been accused of illegally poaching Taiwanese engineers. Will the global semiconductor shortage bring more tension to the already heated situation? https://t.co/l0zjnUozlF — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 9, 2021
Likewise, a global chip famine has risen to the forefront of the Sino-American economic tussle with US President Joe Biden recently calling for a robust review of America’s semiconductor supply chain. In the meantime, the investigation into Bitmain’s alleged illegal poaching of engineers could potentially veer into issues like the leaking of trade secrets and technology theft.
Thus, the investigation could also impact Bitmain’s relationship with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — the world’s largest chipmaker.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Cool Clips