Former Samsung employees arrested over stealing $3.2 billion of chip technology

Former Samsung employees have been arrested over allegations of industrial espionage, the process of stealing company IP to take it to another company, and other related charges.

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The two former Samsung employees used to work for Samsung Electronics and have since been arrested by South Korean authorities for participating in a scheme to steal Samsung semiconductor technologies valued at more than $3.2 billion. Reports indicate the pair, who have only been identified by their last names, Choi and Oh, were trying to transport the Samsung IP back to China to replicate the Samsung chip factory.

The two former Samsung Electronics employees allegedly worked with Chinese officials to create a joint venture called Chengdu Gaozhen. 66-year-old former Samsung executive Choi is alleged to have begun recruiting South Korean semiconductor experts, along with a former Samsung senior researcher who joined the project as the chief plant designer. So, what were the pair trying to steal? Samsung's 20-nanometer DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

The team stole the designs for this chip and even attempted to replicate it as early as April 2022. This event has resulted in South Korean authorities probing Samsung for any other potential intellectual property that has been leaked to outside sources via Samsung employees.