A former employee of SK hynix is reportedly being tried in a domestic court for stealing semiconductor technology data printed on 3,000 pages before moving to Huawei. The first trial is expected to be held at the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Court.
SK hynix has access to advanced DRAM and flash memory technologies and is currently working on HBM3e memory for NVIDIA AI GPUs, GDDR7 VRAM for upcoming consumer GPUs, and has partnered with TSMC to push forth HBM4 technology. All of this data would be essential for Huawei as it would give it an edge in various categories.
Huawei is rumored to have used high salaries as bait to lure new employees into stealing key technologies from leading companies
A report from the Korean publication Money Today reveals that Huawei has attempted to lure former employees from potential competitors by offering them unbeatable salary packages that force them to not just leave their current positions but also steal invaluable data. Likely to withhold the former SK hynix employee’s identity, the report refers to the individual as Ms. A, a Chinese woman in her 30s who joined the Korean company in 2013 and has worked in the department that analyzes defects in semiconductor designs.
However, the report later refers to the person as Mr. A, which might be a small error on the publication’s part. Regardless, SK hynix’s ex-employee shifted to Huawei in 2020 and worked there as a team leader in the business-to-business customer consultation department until June 2022. As the person attempted to change jobs, Mr. A realized that a USB drive could not be used to extract the crucial data from SK hynix due to the tightened security.
Instead, he printed out over 3,000 sheets of A4 paper and allegedly handed them to Huawei. This information would have benefitted the Chinese firm immensely, as it provided data on reducing the defect rate in semiconductor manufacturing. Mr. A entered South Korea at the end of April this year after living abroad for two years, after which the police apprehended him.
Mr. A claimed that he only printed the data to study semiconductors and did not try to leak it in any form. However, an SK hynix official stated that when the company found out that the employee had left with the printed data, the incident was reported to the investigation agency. The report states that such incidents are rapidly increasing, but Huawei, allegedly the mastermind behind this scheme, has yet to comment.
It is important to note that mainstream media has yet to evaluate this report. The fact that Money Today could not discern whether the former SK Hynix employee is a male or female gives us doubt over the claims mentioned. While we will treat all this information with a truckload of salt, we will keep our eyes and ears open for more updates.
News Source: Money Today
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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