Ex-Apple Engineer Involved in Project Titan Faces Prison Time for Trade Secret Theft

Xiaolang Zhang has been sentenced to 120 days in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $146,984.

Former Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang has been sentenced to prison after admitting guilt to charges of trade secret theft in August 2022. Zhang was previously involved in Apple's confidential self-driving car project, known as "Project Titan," where he worked as an engineer on the compute team responsible for creating circuit boards for automotive sensors. Legal documents indicate that concerns were raised when Zhang left his position at Apple and joined the Chinese auto company Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology, also known as XPeng, in 2018.

The US Attorney's Office noted that his network activity in the three days leading up to his departure exceeded any activity observed in the previous two years.

Apple detected the activities as suspicious and initiated an investigation, accusing Zhang of downloading classified files with the intention of selling them to Chinese auto companies. The confidential materials he allegedly took included a hard drive, semiconductor manuals, and 25 pages of documents outlining engineering schematics for a circuit board, as per court records.

Initially entering a plea of not guilty, Zhang later reached a confidential plea agreement with the US government and admitted guilt to all charges in August 2022, as indicated in court documents. The charges carried a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Project Titan Delayed Time & Again

The development of Apple's autonomous car project, "Project Titan," has encountered various setbacks and alterations over the years. Initial expectations for an Apple car in 2021 were fueled by rumours of secretive labs in Berlin and California.

In a 2021 New York Times podcast, Apple CEO Tim Cook neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the car project, emphasising the company's exploration of numerous ideas that may not come to fruition.

Recent reports suggest Apple scaled back the vehicle's design to Level 2+ autonomy, akin to a standard Tesla, with a launch target postponed to 2028. Apple has not provided official comments on these reports.

As for Xiaolang Zhang, he is now sentenced to 120 days in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $146,984. The prison term is scheduled to commence on June 24, 2024, according to the Northern District of California court order.