China bombards tech talent with job offers and puts the West in check

The leaders of Zeiss SMT, the German company that makes key components to build the world’s most powerful semiconductors, has received an alarming notification in the middle of this year.

According to people with knowledge of the situation, The Wall Street Journal they were informed that Huawei Technologies headhunters were trying to attract their employees .

Workers with access to sensitive knowledge received messages via LinkedIn, emails and phone calls from company representatives.

In these interactions, according to the sources consulted by the aforementioned media, They were offered salaries up to three times higher to join the Chinese company. .

The situation led German intelligence officials to launch an investigation fearing that the Asian firm could access part of the intellectual property of its operations.

Sources close to the matter confirmed to Newspaper that the expertises are always open .

The above occurs in the middle of a scenario in which Talent poaching has become a crucial issue in the battle between China and the Western powers at the head of the sector technology .

Many companies in the Asian country They seek to get ahead of the technology race by attracting top engineers in areas such as advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence. (AI).

This, while Western governments work to make access to sensitive technologies difficult .

Sources consulted by the aforementioned newspaper stated that Chinese companies are focusing on technology hubs in countries like Taiwan, parts of Europe and Silicon Valley. .

At the same time, the authorities accuse some hide their origins by creating local businesses who hire employees.

In this way they maintain, avoid attracting the attention of officials .

Faced with this scenario, the American and European authorities They wonder if they should adopt measures to control these practices. And if so, how .

Taiwan already has strict rules on recruitment by Chinese companies.

It is good to remember that faces growing tensions with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) chaired by Xi Jinping, since the latter considers Taiwan as part of his territory, which is rejected by local leaders.

In September, Eight mainland Chinese tech companies accused of illegally stealing talent from the island .

The authorities of South Korea toughens sanctions against those who illegally transfer sensitive technologies to foreign countries like China, even when they are recruited.

The information collected by the Newspaper They specify that the country is evaluating different cases, such as that of former Samsung Electronics executive accused of illegally obtaining company factory plans to then facilitate the construction of a copied chip factory in China.

The United States and Europe, for their part, have remained open to recruitment by most Chinese companies. .

However, European intelligence officials They warn that they have seen how actors linked to China are trying to attract high-tech specialists. of the continent.

US intelligence agencies warned in their latest threat assessment that: China has reportedly attempted to use talent recruitment as a tool to become a leader in areas such as science and technology. on a global scale.

In 2017, the Asian giant presented a government plan for the development of AI.

This initiative it was necessary to attract the most “advanced” talents, including the “best international scientists” in areas such as machine learning and intelligent robots.

The partner of the business consulting firm Groupe DGA, Paul Triolo, asked the Newspaper that attracting foreign engineers is an attractive route for Chinese companies, because it offers a quicker route to a level of experience that cannot be easily replicated .

In his words: “Governments are now more concerned” .

Of course, he emphasized that regulating the issue will be “a very difficult task to accomplish” due to the difficult debate over how to define recruitment boundaries.

Sources consulted by the aforementioned media assured that workers contacted by Chinese companies These are usually employees who have access to trade secrets .

Yet, they said, many of them are reluctant to accept offers and they often claim their decline is due to factors such as potential reputational risks and difficulty integrating into Chinese business culture.

In 2023, the semiconductor company’s CEO California-based FemtoMetrix testified before the US Congress .

He alleged his company’s trade secrets were stolen by three employees who resigned to start his own semiconductor company in China.

FemtoMetrix CEO Alon Raphael said thousands of files had been removed from his company and the matter was being called a an example of the “Chinese strategy of stealing American intellectual property” .

He assured the Newspaper that your business is currently “barely” still in operation and that has not been able to raise significant funds since this happened .

According to the aforementioned media, Western security officials are particularly concerned about efforts by Chinese companies to attract talent from ASML Holding and its suppliers .

The latter has its headquarters in the Netherlands and is one of the most valuable technology companies in the world .

Among its suppliers is the German Zeiss SMT. .

It is claimed that the Dutch company is the only one in the world to have the ability to build the machines needed to print structures smaller than 1/10,000 the width of a human hair on chips for advanced AI and other applications.

Such machines are known as EUV scanners and it is claimed that: Without it, China cannot make cutting-edge chips .

These machines They could also have military applications, while the Dutch government prevents ASML from sending these copies to China. .

Data reviewed by the Newspaper based on LinkedIn and Chinese job networking site Maimai reflect this, Since 2021, Huawei has hired dozens of engineers and other professionals based in China working in lithography and optics for companies such as ASML. and other Western societies.

Even company records show that a Chinese engineer who left the Dutch company about ten years ago later started a rival company in China .

He, in particular, I was aware of some of their software .

Similarly, a former ASML employee based in Taipei, Taiwan, told Newspaper that received requests from Chinese recruiters every month for two years after leaving the company in 2020.

He said Huawei had particularly insisted and that he never responded to attempts to contact him.

From the aforementioned company based in China did not respond to requests for comment of the Newspaper.

For his part, ASML said it had no indication of unusual recruiting activity toward its employees. . They added that their worker attrition rate is considerably low.

Consulted by the aforementioned media regarding these statements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China responded that it was not aware of any examples of tech talent poaching. .

From the portfolio, they assured that the country’s interaction with foreign workers is no different from that of other countries .

Furthermore, They said China respected intellectual property rules and said reports of alleged theft of intellectual property are unfounded.