REUTERS/EVA PLEVIER.
ASML, a key supplier to global chipmakers, said that a China-based former employee stole data about its machinery.
The theft was announced months after U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out sweeping sanctions to prevent China from accessing advanced semiconductor technology.
- ASML Holding, a Dutch supplier to semiconductor firms, said on Wednesday that it discovered an “unauthorized misappropriation of data” by a China-based former employee.
- The data was taken from a software system that stored technical information about the company's machinery.
- ASML has launched an internal investigation and tightened security following the incident.
- China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that he was unaware of the data theft discovered by ASML.
- It is not known if the Chinese employee who stole the data has connections to authorities in Beijing.
- In January, the Netherlands and Japan agreed to join U.S.-led export controls intended to prevent China from accessing advanced chipmaking equipment.
- ASML is a key part of the global semiconductor industry and the only company that currently supplies extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines.
- The firm acknowledged on Wednesday that the theft may have caused it to violate export controls targeting China.
