Home / Business and Economy / Chip Giant Accuses Rival of Stealing AI Secrets
Chip Giant Accuses Rival of Stealing AI Secrets
23 Jul
Summary
- Rival chipmaker Navitas accused of stealing trade secrets.
- Secrets allegedly stolen for next-gen AI data center chips.
- Lawsuit seeks damages and to block misuse of confidential information.
Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics filed a lawsuit in a California federal court on Wednesday, accusing rival Navitas Semiconductor of employee poaching and trade secret theft.
Renesas alleges that Navitas's CEO, Christopher Allexandre, and executive Felicia Cheng, illicitly obtained confidential information concerning gallium nitride (GaN)-based chips. These advanced chips are rapidly supplanting silicon in power-intensive AI data centers.
The lawsuit claims that shortly after Allexandre assumed leadership, Navitas announced a new strategy that closely mirrored Renesas's proprietary plans. Renesas asserts that Navitas used stolen PowerPoint presentations containing trade secrets to engineer similar products and gain a competitive market advantage.
Renesas is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to prevent Navitas from continuing to misuse its proprietary information. The global market for GaN chips is projected for significant growth, from $355 million in 2024 to $3 billion by 2030, driven primarily by AI technology expansion.
