Skip to main content

Ex-Apple engineer pleads not guilty to stealing autonomous car trade secrets

Apple companies header
Josh Edelson/Getty Images

Apple has pressed charges against Xiaolang Zhang, one of its former hardware engineers, after he admitted to downloading trade secrets and intellectual property from the firm’s secretive autonomous car division. Zhang told investigators he downloaded the files and AirDropped them onto his wife’s personal laptop in order to keep accessing them after leaving the company but he didn’t say why. Apple claims he wanted to provide them to a Chinese startup; he pleaded not guilty in court and is working on posting his $300,000 bail.

Zhang worked on circuit boards for Apple’s autonomous car division so he had access to highly confidential information including tech bulletins, reports, and blueprints. A criminal complaint, filed by federal prosecutors, explains he announced his resignation in April and said he planned to move back to China to take care of his sick mother, according to The Mercury News. He also told his supervisors he had accepted a position at a 4-year-old automaker called Xiaopeng Motors. The company remains relatively obscure outside of China but it’s financially backed by well-known names like Alibaba and Foxconn. It told investigators it has uncovered no evidence of sensitive information sent by Zhang.

Apple’s security officials asked Zhang to turn in his two work-issued iPhones and his MacBook after he announced his resignation. Apple then launched an investigation into his activities online and realized he had downloaded an immense amount of data in the days leading up to his resignation. Suspicious, they examined footage from security cameras and, according to court documents obtained by The Verge, saw him leaving his lab with a large box containing circuit boards and a Linux server, cables, and a keyboard on April 28.

The complaint notes investigators found most of Zhang’s network activity “consisted of both bulk searches and targeted downloading [of] copious pages of information from the various confidential database applications.” Summoned back to Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters, Zhang quickly admitted to downloading the files and transferring them to his wife’s laptop but denied wrongdoing. Investigators call a full 60 percent of the data stored on the computer “highly problematic.” It includes information about topics such as prototypes, power requirements, battery systems, and drivetrain suspension mounts.

Zhang voluntarily left his position at Apple on May 5, and the FBI searched his home on June 27. What they found, if anything, hasn’t been made public yet. Federal agents arrested Zhang on July 7 as he went through a security checkpoint at the San Jose airport. Officials say he had recently purchased tickets to Hangzhou, China, via Beijing. If found guilty, he’ll face up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine, according to Bloomberg.

Ridesharing giant Uber recently settled a similar case for $245 million. In 2017, Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber claiming ex-engineer Anthony Levandowski downloaded confidential files about autonomous car technology before leaving the company to establish a firm named Otto. Uber quickly purchased Otto and, according to Waymo’s lawyers, received the valuable files stolen by Levandowski as part of the deal. When it announced the settlement, Uber pledged to learn from past mistakes but never admitted wrongdoing.

Update: Added not guilty plea from Zhang.

Editors' Recommendations

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Ex-Apple employee pleads guilty to nabbing Apple Car secrets
The Apple logo is displayed at the Apple Store June 17, 2015 on Fifth Avenue in New York City

A former Apple employee on Monday pled guilty to the theft of trade secrets from the tech firm.

The material stolen by Xiaolang Zhang was linked to Apple’s work on its first-ever automobile, a project that’s been in and out of the headlines for years though never officially confirmed by the company.

Read more
Apple Car project continues to veer, report claims
Apple's experimental self-driving car

Whether Apple will actually unveil an electric, autonomous vehicle seems as unclear as ever following a new report that claims the initiative is still facing serious challenges.

Codenamed Project Titan, Apple has reportedly been working on building a car for years, though over that time the company has reportedly struggled with key personnel changes, uncertainty over its approach and ultimate goals, and issues with finding partners to help it move the project forward.

Read more
Apple CarPlay feature to offer an easy way to pay for fuel
Apple CarPlay interface

Apple is developing a new CarPlay feature that will let drivers pay for gas via their vehicle’s dashboard.

The feature was quietly unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in early June but went unreported until now.

Read more