Apple Engineer Sentenced to 6 Months in Prison for Stealing Company's Self-Driving Car Tech
Xiaolang Zhang stole multiple files, including a blueprint for a circuit board.
A former engineer at Apple will serve time in prison after pleading guilty to stealing trade secrets related to the company’s self-driving car technology, also known as Project Titan.
Xiaolang Zhang was first charged by the FBI in 2018. He had been working on Project Titan but took a period of parental leave. When his leave had come to a close, he told Apple that he wouldn’t be returning and instead started a new job at a Chinese autonomous car startup, XMotors, 9 to 5 Mac reported.
Apple conducted its own investigation into Zhang’s departure, which also meant looking into activity on his Apple Devices. The company discovered that Zhang had stolen multiple copies of files from projects he had worked on throughout his time at Apple, including the blueprint for a circuit for a self-driving car.
While Zhang pled not guilty when first charged in 2018, he ultimately entered a guilty plea in 2022. A California judge has now sentenced the engineer to 120 days in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, 9 to 5 Mac reported first. He’ll also be required to pay a $146,984 USD fine.
