Former Apple worker charged with stealing self-driving car secrets
SAN FRANCISCO: US authorities charged a former Apple Inc employee with stealing trade secrets on Monday, accusing him of downloading a blueprint related to a self-driving car to a personal laptop before trying to flee the country for China, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
The complaint said the former employee, Xiaolang Zhang, disclosed intentions to work for a Chinese self-driving car startup and booked a last-minute flight to China after downloading the plan for a circuit board for the selfdriving car. Authorities arrested Zhang on July 7 at the San Jose airport after he passed through a security checkpoint.
“We’re working with authorities on this matter and will do everything possible to make sure this individual and any other individuals involved are held accountable for their actions,” Apple said in a statement.
Tamara Crepet, a lawyer provisionally appointed to represent Zhang, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The criminal complaint said Zhang was hired to develop software and hardware for Apple’s autonomous vehicle project, where he designed and tested circuit boards to analyse sensor data.
In April, Zhang took paternity leave following the birth of a child and travelled with his family to China, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
When Zhang returned, he told his supervisor he planned to resign, move back to China and work for Xiaopeng Motors, an intelligent electric vehicle company headquartered there with offices in Silicon Valley.
Zhang’s supervisor called Apple security officials, who discovered that Zhang had run extensive searches of secret databases and had come on to Apple’s campus on April 28, when he was supposed to be on paternity leave, the complaint alleged. While on campus, the complaint alleges, Zhang took circuit boards and a computer server from a selfdriving car hardware lab, and his Apple co-workers showed him a “proprietary chip.”