Ex-Apple engineer charged with stealing company’s self-driving car technology

Weibao Wang is accused of stealing secrets for US subsidiary of Chinese company identified as ‘Company One’

A former Apple engineer who fled to China five years ago has been charged with stealing the company’s self-driving car technology.

The US Justice Department charged Weibao Wang, 35, for stealing large troves of data from Apple, including trade secrets and technology related to autonomous systems that are used to design self-driving cars.

Mr Wang was charged with six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets, according to a press release issued by the department.

“Innovation is alive and well in Silicon Valley – indeed, throughout the Northern District of California,” said US attorney Ismail J Ramsey.

“Unfortunately, there will always be some who cheat the system by stealing and profiting from the fruits of others’ labour. The Wang prosecution is but one example. We are pleased that the Disruptive Technology Task Force renews energy and focus on securing innovation for those who actually create it.”

The former Apple engineer was a resident of Mountain View in California and began working with the tech giant in 2016.

He had signed a confidentiality agreement for the project for which he was working on, and very few people at the company knew about it at that time.

He began working as staff engineer with the US-based subsidiary of a Chinese company and was working to develop self-driving cars, the indictment said.

The company was identified only as “Company One” in the indictment.

Mr Wang was also accused of waiting for more than four months before telling Apple that he was resigning, after he signed a new employment agreement with “Company One”.

After the last day of his employment at Apple, on 16 April 2018, Apple’s officials found in their logs that he had accessed large troves of confidential data in the final days of his stint at the tech giant.

His Mountain View home was searched on 27 June 2018. Law enforcement agents discovered “large quantities of data taken from Apple prior to his departure” during the search, for which Mr Wang was present.

After telling the agents that he had no plans to travel, he purchased a one-way ticket to Guangzhou, China, and boarded a flight that same night.

In a press conference, Mr Ramsey said Mr Wang remained in China and he could face 10 years in jail, if extradited and convicted.

This is the third incident of a former Apple employee being charged for stealing of documents for China.

Two other Apple employees have previously been charged in similar cases involving theft of trade secrets, reported the BBC.