In Hsinchu, in the northwest of the island coveted by Beijing, a fierce technological race is taking place around the flagship TSMC. At the heart of this competition: engineers, which the Chinese Huawei and the Americans are seeking to recruit.
At the TSMC Innovation Museum in Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 29, 2024. ANN WANG/REUTERS
Searching through her email, Chen easily finds several of these job offers. The 43-year-old Taiwanese receives them at least every three months. “Would you consider new opportunities?” “ We are looking for someone with your experience ,” the engineer reads. The requests all come from recruitment agencies commissioned by Huawei, the Chinese telecom champion . “I never respond ,” she says.
The work of this specialist in microchip casing has become strategic as semiconductors reach the realm of the infinitely small. This former employee of the giant of the sector, TSMC – the most important company for Taiwan and one of the most crucial for the West – is currently employed by an American group producing on the island. Despite the appeals of the Chinese competitor, she finds it more attractive to work for Taiwanese and American industries.
She would risk no longer being hired by these groups if she went to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, or worse. The Taiwanese justice investigation bureau, responsible for national security issues, has multiplied investigations in recent years: companies present themselves, for example, as data analysis firms, to, in reality, recruit Taiwanese talents in microchips, with salaries sometimes three times higher than those charged. The idea? To steal the trade secrets of previous employers, for the benefit of China.
When Chen completed her studies in 2005, the transistors in the most efficient chips were etched at 65 nanometers (nm). Today, with technological advances, trial production of the latest generation of semiconductors, etched at 2 nm, has already begun in the Hsinchu industrial park in northwest Taiwan. Their mass production is due to start in 2025 at one of these ultra-advanced sites, called “Fab 20”. They will equip the future iPhone 17, Nvidia’s new artificial intelligence chips, and will probably also have military applications.
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At the TSMC Innovation Museum in Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 29, 2024. ANN WANG/REUTERS
Searching through her email, Chen easily finds several of these job offers. The 43-year-old Taiwanese receives them at least every three months. “Would you consider new opportunities?” “ We are looking for someone with your experience ,” the engineer reads. The requests all come from recruitment agencies commissioned by Huawei, the Chinese telecom champion . “I never respond ,” she says.
The work of this specialist in microchip casing has become strategic as semiconductors reach the realm of the infinitely small. This former employee of the giant of the sector, TSMC – the most important company for Taiwan and one of the most crucial for the West – is currently employed by an American group producing on the island. Despite the appeals of the Chinese competitor, she finds it more attractive to work for Taiwanese and American industries.
She would risk no longer being hired by these groups if she went to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, or worse. The Taiwanese justice investigation bureau, responsible for national security issues, has multiplied investigations in recent years: companies present themselves, for example, as data analysis firms, to, in reality, recruit Taiwanese talents in microchips, with salaries sometimes three times higher than those charged. The idea? To steal the trade secrets of previous employers, for the benefit of China.
When Chen completed her studies in 2005, the transistors in the most efficient chips were etched at 65 nanometers (nm). Today, with technological advances, trial production of the latest generation of semiconductors, etched at 2 nm, has already begun in the Hsinchu industrial park in northwest Taiwan. Their mass production is due to start in 2025 at one of these ultra-advanced sites, called “Fab 20”. They will equip the future iPhone 17, Nvidia’s new artificial intelligence chips, and will probably also have military applications.
Entre Taïwan et la Chine, la guerre des puces est une bataille des talents
A Hsinchu, dans le nord-ouest de l’île convoitée par Pékin, se joue une âpre course technologique autour du fleuron TSMC. Au cœur de cette compétition : les ingénieurs, que le chinois Huawei et les Américains cherchent à recruter.
www.lemonde.fr