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India Today
9 hours ago
- India Today
AI engineer Varun Gupta, an IIT grad, gets probation and $34,000 fine for leaking Intel secrets to Microsoft
An ex-Intel engineer who stole 'thousands of files' from his former employer has escaped prison but won't escape the headlines. Varun Gupta, who left the chip giant in early 2020 to join Microsoft, has been handed two years' probation and a fine of $34,472 (around Rs 30,21,510) for lifting confidential documents, data that prosecutors say helped him secure his new role and gave Microsoft an edge in high-stakes negotiations with to Oregon Live, Gupta spent his final days at Intel quietly copying sensitive information from company systems. Among the material he walked away with was a PowerPoint presentation that outlined Intel's pricing strategies for a major client, the kind of playbook most rivals could only dream of report highlighted that Gupta had worked at Intel for a decade, serving as a product marketing engineer, before leaving in January 2020. Just days later, he was in the ranks at Microsoft. Court documents revealed that the files he took were 'instrumental' both to landing his new post and in later discussions between the two tech titans. Assistant US Attorney William Narus, who prosecuted the case, argued that Gupta's behaviour was deliberate and repeated. He urged the judge to impose eight months in federal prison, stressing that Gupta had 'purposefully and repetitively accessed secret documents' in order to bolster his defence painted a different picture. Gupta's lawyer, David Angeli, admitted the theft was a 'serious error in judgment' but insisted his client had already paid a heavy price. Gupta has lost the kind of senior industry roles he once held, and he previously settled a civil lawsuit with Intel to the tune of $40, Angeli argued, was punishment the end, US District Judge Amy Baggio settled somewhere in the middle. While refusing to send Gupta to prison, she did not let him off lightly. The $34,472 fine wasn't plucked out of thin air, it was calculated to reflect the cost of the eight months of federal imprisonment that prosecutors had pushed explained that this unusual figure underscored the seriousness of Gupta's misconduct, signalling that the court did not see it as a 'one-off indiscretion.' But she also noted that Gupta's reputation had already been dragged through the mud, which she considered punishment in its own the case now behind him, Gupta is turning his back on the world of semiconductors. Having paid his fine in full, he has relocated with his family to France, where life looks very different. Instead of battling over chips and contracts, he's swapping servers for say Gupta is currently studying vineyard management and plans to reinvent himself in the wine industry. His ambition? To become a technical director in viticulture.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
Ex-Intel engineer sentenced and fined $34,472 for stealing trade secrets and sharing with Microsoft; Judge says: Used those materials during negotiations ...
Representative image A former Intel engineer who illegally shared the company's trade secrets with his new employer, Microsoft, has been sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of over $34,000, a report has said. The sentence was handed down last week to Varun Gupta, who worked as a product marketing engineer for Intel for nearly a decade. He was fired from his senior position at Microsoft after his actions came to light. According to Assistant US Attorney William Narus, Gupta copied thousands of confidential files from his Intel computer onto a portable hard drive before leaving the company in 2020, as per a report in Oregon Live. He then 'repeatedly accessed those documents' and used them to represent Microsoft in contract negotiations with his former employer, specifically on a deal related to computer processors, the report added. 'Not only did the defendant take proprietary materials with him, he also used those materials during negotiations against his prior employer,' Narus said in a sentencing memo. One of the documents shared was a PowerPoint presentation outlining Intel's pricing strategy with another major customer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Could This NEW Collagen Blend Finally Reduce Your Cellulite? Vitauthority Learn More Undo What the sentencing memo on the former Intel engineer said In a sentencing memo, Narus argued for an eight-month prison term, emphasising the need to deter such behavior in an industry with high employee turnover. 'Not only did the defendant take proprietary materials with him, he also used those materials during negotiations against his prior employer,' Narus wrote. Gupta's defense attorney, David Angeli, countered that Gupta had already suffered a significant and lasting punishment. Angeli noted that his client had already lost the high-level position he worked years to achieve, settled a civil lawsuit with Intel for $40,000, and experienced a permanently damaged reputation that effectively ended his career in the tech sector. In a prepared statement to the court, Gupta apologised to both Intel and Microsoft, as well as the government, for the resources spent 'because of my bad decision.' He spoke of his daily struggle with questions about his future and his "legacy" as he works to rebuild his life in a new country. After leaving the tech industry, Gupta relocated his family to France and is now studying vineyard management, with aspirations of working in the wine industry. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 Review: Changing The Game AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Time of India
Intel CEO's ‘amazing story' has helped make him a billionaire
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Days after calling for the firing of Intel 's CEO, President Donald Trump changed his mind following a 'very interesting' meeting with the executive. 'His success and rise is an amazing story,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on a story that's also made Lip-Bu Tan amazingly 65-year-old technology and venture capital industry veteran has amassed a fortune worth at least $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is calculating Tan's net worth for the first bulk of his fortune stems from Cadence Design Systems Inc., a maker of chip design tools where Tan was chief executive officer for 12 years before joining Intel. He has sold shares worth more than $575 million in the San Jose, California-based company, and still holds a $500 million position, according to Bloomberg's calculations.A Bloomberg report late Thursday afternoon saying the Trump administration is in talks with Intel to have the US government potentially take a stake in the Silicon Valley chipmaker sent the company's shares up 7.4% in New York. The stock gained 15% since Tan's appointment as CEO in March, boosting the value of his stake to more than $29 was Tan's tenure at Cadence, along with his other role as executive chairman of venture firm Walden International , that initially drew criticism from Washington. Trump ally and Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board chair earlier this month questioning Tan's ties to China and his history at Cadence, which sold products to a Chinese military university. A day later, the president posted that Tan was 'highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately.'Tan called the claims 'misinformation' in a letter to employees. But his record of investing in China and the riches it has brought him had already cast a shadow over his July, Cadence pleaded guilty to violating US export controls during Tan's tenure and took a $140.6 million charge related to settling the cases. Earlier, in 2023, the US government had sent Tan a letter asking Walden to explain its investments after the San Francisco-based firm had invested in more than 100 Chinese companies.'I want to be absolutely clear: Over 40+ years in the industry, I've built relationships around the world and across our diverse ecosystem – and I have always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards,' Tan wrote in response to the allegations.A spokesperson for Santa Clara, California-based Intel declined to comment.A naturalised US citizen, Tan was born in Malaysia in 1959, the youngest of five children. His father was editor-in-chief of a Malaysian newspaper, while his mother was a professor in Singapore. After graduating with a degree in physics from Nanyang Technical University, he earned a Masters in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of San move to Silicon Valley brought him into the venture capital world. He met the founding partner of Walden Capital and proposed raising an international fund for them, offering to do so without being paid a salary, according to an oral history of his life from a 2018 interview at the Computer History Museum. The first fund of $3.3 million was partially seeded with the help of his father-in-law and his father's friends in technical background led him to concentrate on semiconductors at a time when it was seen as a 'sunset' industry. His investors questioned the strategy, wondering why he would invest in an area US firms had largely abandoned, he said in the 2018 interview. 'Now they're starting to recognize my strategy worked.'Walden International went on to invest $5 billion in more than 600 companies across 12 countries, many of them niche semiconductor firms. For a decade and a half, he served on the board of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., now China's leading joining Intel as CEO in March, Tan has accelerated his divestments in Chinese technology companies. But he remains executive chairman of Walden International and also invests through Walden Catalyst Ventures, a venture arm focused on startups in the US, Europe and Sakarya Ltd., a Hong Kong-based firm wholly owned by Tan, and various Walden International entities, he has invested in at least 165 Chinese firms and startups, according to Chinese company data provider estimate of Tan's fortune doesn't include Walden International as his personal involvement in the group's entities isn't his time as Cadence's CEO from 2009 to 2021, the stock increased more than 4,000%. Tan sold in excess of $575 million of shares through the end of 2023, when he last reported sales. His disclosed ownership at the time of 1.5 million shares, or around 0.53% of the company, is worth about $500 million running Cadence, he also kept his full-time position at Walden, acknowledging in the 2018 interview that he was someone who only needed four or five hours of sleep a night. He saw the roles as synergistic, with the tech investments helping to inform Cadence's direction at the time.'I think it kind of goes hand in hand, helping the industry, and also, it's good for me for education,' he said. 'I never stop learning.'Tan stepped down as Cadence's CEO in 2021, taking on the role of executive chairman for next two years. He also joined Intel's board, though left in August 2024 after disagreements over the company's strategy and direction, according to published reports. He was named CEO in March, charged with reviving the chipmaker, which has struggled recently as computing migrated to smartphones and AI grew in who has since rejoined Intel's board, owns roughly 1.2 million shares of Intel, with about 99% acquired after agreeing to become CEO, according to an offer letter from Intel. His pay package includes a salary of $1 million, plus a 200% performance-based bonus and $66 million in long-term equity awards and stock options, the company said in a filing.'The United States has been my home for more than 40 years,' Tan wrote in the letter to employees following Trump's call for his resignation. 'I love this country and am profoundly grateful for the opportunities it has given me.'
