A former Apple Inc engineer on Monday pleaded responsible to commerce secret theft – one in every of two individuals accused of stealing commerce secrets and techniques from the iPhone maker’s nascent self-driving automobile program.
U.S. federal prosecutors have alleged that Xiaolang Zhang downloaded the plan for a circuit board for Apple’s self-driving after disclosing his intentions to work for a Chinese language self-driving automobile startup and reserving a last-minute flight to China.
He was arrested on the San Jose airport after he handed via a safety checkpoint.
Zhang initially pleaded not responsible to the costs however in response to court docket paperwork on Monday, he had reached a plea take care of prosecutors and altered his plea to responsible. The plea deal is sealed and sentencing is ready for November.
Zhang’s lawyer confirmed the plea settlement however declined additional remark. Apple and the U.S. Division of Justice didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Jizhong Chen, the opposite former Apple engineer charged with commerce secret theft, has pleaded not responsible. He has a court docket listening to set for Aug. 29.
