Apple is evidently very protective of its proprietary technology, so when it discovered that a former engineer who left the company took with him information about its autonomous driving project, it immediately took action to resolve the matter.
Former Apple Engineer Flees to China
The ex-employee, also known as Weibao Wang, has been an engineer at Apple since 2016. He was part of the team that worked on the tech giant's autonomous driving project called Project Titan, which Apple has been keeping under wraps.
Wang was said to have accepted employment in another company after a year and a half, which is based in China, where he will be doing the same job. Before leaving Apple, it was discovered that he may have stolen data from the company.
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Wang accessed "large amounts of sensitive proprietary and confidential information," as mentioned in Ars Technica. The matter was further investigated by authorities as the ex-employee flew to Guangzhou, China.
Upon searching the home of the former engineer in Mountain View, California, huge amounts of Apple's data were found. This led to Wan being charged with six counts of stealing or attempting to steal trade secrets.
If apprehended, Wang will be facing ten years in prison, as well as fines that can reach up to $250,000, and that's for each count of charges. It also doesn't help that he stole from a US-based company and fled to China considering the current tension.
This wasn't the first time it has happened either. Back in December 2019, Apple employees who also worked on Project Titan were accused of stealing data. The accused, Xiaolang Zhang and Jizhong Chen were also caught trying to flee to China.
Federal agents were able to catch up to Zhang at the San Jose airport just as he was about to board a plane headed for China. Chen was also arrested at a train station on his way to the San Francisco International Airport on the way to China, according to Reuters.
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Apple's Project Titan
Apple has been working on the autonomous vehicle since 2016 and has consulted over a thousand car experts and engineers to develop the electric vehicle. The project is said to be based in Cupertino, near one of the company's headquarters.
Initially, the tech giant had more ambitious plans for the vehicle, but after the plan was halted and continued back in 2020, it slowly progressed to plans of creating a semi-autonomous car instead of a fully autonomous one, as mentioned in MacRumors.
Like Tesla vehicles, it will be able to drive on highways on its own, but the driver will have to do so manually when on city roads or in emergency situations. Since Apple is new in the car industry, it will partner with Hyundai for the project.
Sure, the new plan is far from the rumored fully autonomous car that was supposed to get rid of steering wheels and pedals altogether, but as technology advances, Apple might just make good on that promise in the future.
