Welcome to the Tech Brew Ride Home for Tuesday, August 5th, 2025. I'm Brian McCalla today.

TSM has fired employees for allegedly attempting to pill for information on their two-nanometer tech.

Figma could have raised more money in its IPO but chose not to, creating entire video game worlds with just a text prompt,

and exactly how big Patreon has grown in the creator economy.

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech.

Weirdly, I have two sort of SpyGate stories for you today.

First up, Niki Asia says,

TSM has fired several employees for violating rules on obtaining sensitive information about its two-nanometer technology. TSM says it, quote, detected unauthorized activities.

Quoting 9 to 5 Mac.

TSM leads the world in the most advanced chip processes and is next year expected to use its two nanometer technology for the A20 chips used in the iPhone 18 range.

Apple typically gets access to TSM's most advanced chip processes ahead of the company's

other customers. Apple analyst Ming Chi

Kuo has suggested that the new chip will be used for all iPhone 18 models, not just the two

pro ones. Nikai Asia reports that TSM accused several former employees of attempting to obtain

secret information about its two nanometer chip development and production process. Several former employees

of TSM are suspected of attempting to obtain critical proprietary information on two-nanameter

chip development and production while working at the company, according to multiple sources

familiar with the matter. In response to Niki Asia's questions, TSM said that it recently

detected unauthorized activities during routine monitoring

leading to the discovery of potential trade secret leaks. The world's top chipmaker said on

Monday it took strict disciplinary actions against the personnel involved and has initiated

legal proceedings. The attempt was detected by spotting unusual access patterns on the part of one of the employees.

...