Ex-Huawei employees sentenced to jail for stealing semiconductor-related secrets
Huawei Technologies employees to jail for stealing chip-related business secrets from the company, the state-owned Securities Times newspaper reported on Saturday.
According to the report, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court on July 28 sentenced 14 employees of Zunpai Communication Technology, a start-up founded by engineers from Huawei's chip development unit
HiSilicon , to jail terms of up to six years on top of financial penalties.
The court has not published the verdict on its website and it is not known whether the engineers will appeal the ruling. Huawei did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The case sent shock waves through China's semiconductor industry and highlighted the issue of intellectual property theft on the mainland.
According to the Securities Times report, Zhang Kun, a former researcher at HiSilicon, left Huawei in 2019 and founded Zunpai in March 2021 to develop Wi-fi communication chips. Zhang managed to persuade some of his former colleagues to join him at the start-up.
Huawei Technologies quickly took action against Zunpai. According to a legal document published in August 2023, Shanghai HiSilicon Technology, a Huawei subsidiary, applied to the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court to freeze 95 million yuan (US$13.1 million) worth of assets under Zunpai and its subsidiaries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
26 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
For the US, it's Mountain Pass – or fail – in bid to supplant China's rare earth supremacy
Rare earths are needed for everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets – and China controls the supply chain. In the second of a four-part series, we look at how China gradually took a commanding role in the rare earth industry, and how the US is now working to strengthen its sources and production. Advertisement Nearly a half-century removed from being the world's dominant supplier of rare earth elements, California's Mountain Pass mine is once again being tasked with unearthing a veritable treasure trove of metals and minerals that the United States hopes will help bridge a supply gulf with China in an increasingly critical industry. Splashing out hundreds of millions of dollars, the US Department of Defence is digging deep into the public coffers to bring back the mine, which has had a rocky history. After being shut down in 2002 due to environmental concerns, Mountain Pass was reawakened during the early days of former president Barack Obama's administration when the privately held Molycorp Minerals was formed to revive it. It was an ambitious undertaking, with approximately US$1.5 billion invested to reinstate production and give the US a competitive boost in the rare earth supply chain. But the effort ground to a halt in 2015 when the company went bankrupt. Advertisement In the decade since, Washington has slowly woken up to the reality of Beijing's chokehold on rare earths and watched as that dominant position has become China's biggest bargaining chip in the two sides' protracted trade war. The administration of US President Donald Trump has tried, with increased urgency, to get to the core of the problem by accelerating attempts to reduce America's deep reliance on China for the raw materials that are used in everything from military weapons and semiconductors to electric vehicles and wind turbines.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US charges 2 Chinese nationals for sending Nvidia AI chips to China
Two Chinese nationals were arrested this week on charges that they sent tens of millions of dollars worth of advanced AI chips made by Nvidia to China in violation of US export restrictions, according to authorities. Advertisement The defendants used a company based in El Monte, California, to export sensitive technology, including graphics processing units, used in artificial intelligence without obtaining the necessary government licences, the US Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint provided by the agency, the two individuals shipped Nvidia-designed chips including the company's H100 AI accelerators, which are the basis for computers used to create and run artificial intelligence software. Such chips require official approval for sales to certain countries. The accused were identified by authorities as Geng Chuan, 28, of Pasadena, and Yang Shiwei Yang, of El Monte. They have been charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act and could face up to 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. Lawyers for the Geng and Yang could not be immediately located for comment. Spokespeople for Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 03:34 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praises China's AI progress following chip sales approval Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praises China's AI progress following chip sales approval Over the past several years, the US has steadily tightened restrictions on exports of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to keep China from gaining ground in the race for AI dominance. The Trump administration is exploring ways to include enhanced location-tracking in AI chips to help with export control enforcement.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US charges 2 Chinese nationals with sending Nvidia AI chips to China
Two Chinese nationals were arrested this week on charges that they sent tens of millions of dollars worth of advanced AI chips made by Nvidia to China in violation of US export restrictions, according to authorities. Advertisement The defendants used a company based in El Monte, California, to export sensitive technology, including graphics processing units, used in artificial intelligence without obtaining the necessary government licences, the US Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint provided by the agency, the two individuals shipped Nvidia-designed chips including the company's H100 AI accelerators, which are the basis for computers used to create and run artificial intelligence software. Such chips require official approval for sales to certain countries. The accused were identified by authorities as Geng Chuan, 28, of Pasadena, and Yang Shiwei Yang, of El Monte. They have been charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act and could face up to 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. Lawyers for the Geng and Yang could not be immediately located for comment. Spokespeople for Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 03:34 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praises China's AI progress following chip sales approval Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praises China's AI progress following chip sales approval Over the past several years, the US has steadily tightened restrictions on exports of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to keep China from gaining ground in the race for AI dominance.
