- A former Apple employee has admitted to stealing trade secrets from the company’s autonomous vehicle project.
- The theft of trade secrets carries a maximum term of 10 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.
- Apple Car is expected to make its debut around 2025.
A former employee of Apple Inc. entered a guilty plea and acknowledged disclosing to a different electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer trade secrets from the Apple Car project.
Xiaopeng Motors Technology, a Chinese EV manufacturer commonly known as Xpeng, is where Xiaolang Zhang reportedly found employment after leaving his position at Apple.
During the course of the investigation, Apple discovered that Zhang had taken a server, circuit boards, and around 24GB of qualifying information from the company’s autonomous vehicle lab.
In the US, theft of trade secrets carries a maximum term of 10 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000. Zhang’s hearing, however, won’t be resolved until a meeting scheduled for November 14th.
The fact that an Apple ex-employee has disclosed trade secrets before is emphasized by the publication.
The article continues by stating that a worker was apprehended for committing a similar crime, which involved taking instructions, schematics, blueprints, and pictures from Apple’s automobile project and smuggling them to China.
Another incident involving Xpeng involved a Tesla Inc. employee giving the latter access to the auto-pilot system’s source code.
Xpeng stated that it “respects any third-intellectual party’s property rights and confidential information” after this disclosure.
Due to numerous intriguing rumors and stories that surround it, the Apple Car is one of the most eagerly anticipated upcoming vehicles in history.
Apple Car is expected to make its debut around 2025, while the specific date is yet unknown.
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