“A former Apple engineer stole secrets about the company’s self-driving car project,” David Meyer reports for Fortune. “Xiaolang Zhang was arrested at a San Jose airport on Saturday, and he now faces a decade behind bars and a $250,000 fine if convicted.”
“Zhang, who left his position as an Apple hardware engineer in May, was about to fly to China to go work for a new employer, Xiaopeng Motors or XMotors, which is making connected, electric cars. According to prosecutors, Zhang admitted downloading files relating to Apple’s Project Titan scheme,” Meyer reports. “Zhang apparently took paternity leave in April. When he returned, the engineer told Apple that he would be moving to China to work for XMotors, which also has a Mountain View office, and to be with his sick mother.”
“Apple’s security team reviewed Zhang’s work devices when he turned them in, and found a lot more download activity and confidential information than should have been on there,” Meyer reports. “Security footage showed the engineer had returned to Apple’s offices during his paternity leave and taken things from the labs.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That $250,000 are relative peanuts, but those 10 years! They’d hurt if so sentenced.
SEE ALSO:
Criminal case reveals details of Apple’s self-driving car technology – July 11, 2018
China’s XMotors claims employee did not pass along Apple autonomous driving trade secrets – July 11, 2018
Former Apple employee charged with criminal theft of autonomous vehicle secrets – July 10, 2018