Former Engineer Accused Of Trade Secret Theft

Former Engineer Accused Of Trade Secret Theft

Earlier this month Zhang Xiaolang pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing specifications for autonomous vehicles from his former employers at Apple to sell to a Chinese startup. He was arraigned in federal court in San Jose, California where he entered his plea through his lawyer.

Zhang was arrested while attempting to board a flight to China, at which time he was charged with downloading files from his employer with the intent to sell them to Xiaopeng Motors in exchange for a significant sum of money.

He is currently attempting to secure the $300,000.00 bail granted by Judge Virginia DeMarchi. Zhang is currently represented by Daniel Olmos after his public defender reported to the Judge that his client had too large of an income to quality for public assistance.

While he admitted to downloading the files, the defendant stated that it was only with the intent to continue his work with the self-driving vehicle technology.

Xiaopeng Motors has agreed to cooperate with authorities but has denied that any sensitive information has been received by Zhang.

Updates are expected soon with the case as more information becomes available.

Here at Fix Auto Ontario of Ontario, CA we strive to provide informative and entertaining articles. Like what you've read? Let us know!

Written By: Todd Hendrickson
Source: Bloomberg