GoKawiilBelgian prosecutors charge researcher for allegedly funneling BelGaN's GaN chip IP to China
Belgian federal prosecutors arrested a 52-year-old Beijing-born Belgian resident, identified as H.L., on May 10 at a Brussels airport as he attempted to board a China-bound flight. He is accused of transferring gallium nitride semiconductor trade secrets from BelGaN, where he worked, to GanKool, a Chinese firm developing identical chip technology and founded shortly after he joined BelGaN. He now faces charges including industrial espionage and unlawful disclosure of business secrets.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The case suggests BelGaN's 2024 bankruptcy wasn't just financial failure but possibly a deliberate scheme to strip a European chipmaker of its proprietary GaN technology and relocate it to a China-backed competitor. It highlights growing concerns in Europe about insider-driven IP leakage to Chinese semiconductor firms amid intensifying global competition over advanced chip materials.
- A researcher was arrested trying to fly to China after allegedly leaking BelGaN's GaN chip secrets.
- Chinese firm GanKool, formed months after he joined BelGaN, was developing identical technology.
- BelGaN's ex-CEO, also Chinese, is linked to GanKool, with a second suspect still at large.
Anker Nano 65W GaN Charger — Gallium nitride is the tech at the heart of this story, and the most common place consumers meet it is in compact fast chargers. Anker's Nano 65W GaN charger packs enough power for a laptop, tablet, and phone into a plug barely bigger than a stock phone brick — a neat demonstration of why GaN IP is worth fighting over.
See Anker Nano 65W GaN Charger on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: tomshardware.com — Etiido Uko, 2026-09-08
Published there as: “Belgian-Chinese semiconductor researcher arrested over alleged GaN trade-secret theft — prosecutors suspect BelGaN insiders transferred chip IP to China before the company collapsed”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.