DOJ Alleges Former Apple Engineer Stole Self-Driving Code For Chinese Company

The Department of Justice has provided us with today's dose of "China is stealing intellectual properties" news. They have charged that an Apple software engineer attempted to steal Apple's autonomous driving technologies for a Chinese company.

According to the Department of Justice, Weibao Wang was charged Tuesday with six counts of stealing Apple's "entire autonomy code," tracking systems, behavior plans for autonomous systems and descriptions of hardware used.

CNBC

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Wang had reportedly "broad access", which the DOJ claimed could only be accessed 2,700 out of Apple's 135 000 employees.

Indictment details how Wang accepted a job with a U.S.-based subsidiary of a Chinese firm that developed autonomous driving technology four months prior to quitting Apple. Wang began to transfer "large quantities" of Apple technology and source codes, the indictment says.

Wang allegedly stole the data from Wang's database. At that time, only 5% Apple employees knew about it.

According to the report, when authorities searched Wang’s home in 2018 they found “large quantities of confidential and proprietary data”. Wang fled the United States after the search warrant was carried out. He boarded a flight from San Francisco International Airport to Guangzhou in China.

CNBC reported

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If he is extradited to the Northern District of California and convicted, U.S. attorney Ismail Ramsey said that he could face 10 years of prison on each charge.

We will not hold our breath.