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According to Bloomberg, Zhang admitted that he downloaded Apple's driverless car files, so he could still have access to them even if he's not with the company anymore. Reuters also said that he admitted to taking hardware from the lab, because he wanted a new position within Apple and thought it could help him. Zhang designed and tested circuit boards for analyzing sensor data at Apple and was privy to top secret information about its driverless car development. He informed the company that he was permanently moving back to China to work for local EV startup Xiaopeng Motors after he got back from his paternity leave. Apple officials were quick to inform authorities of possible theft, because Zhang's supervisor noticed an increase in his network activities and discovered that he visited its HQ in the middle of his paternity leave when he was supposed to be in China.

An ex-Apple engineer has been charged with stealing secret blueprints for the tech giant's automated car project before trying to flee the US for China. Xiaolang Zhang was arrested by FBI agents at San Jose airport in California on Saturday when he passed through a security checkpoint. He is accused of downloading the plan for a circuit board for the automated car just days before he quit to go to a Chinese self-driving car startup. The charge is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A criminal complaint filed on Monday said Zhang was hired by Apple in December of 2015 to develop software and hardware for the company's autonomous vehicle project, where he designed and tested circuit boards to analyze sensor data.

Most new cars come with a range of connected options, from Bluetooth to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Here's how to distinguish among them and how to determine what you need. Apple is offering free fixes for some Macbook and Macbook Pro computers that aren't operating correctly. It was almost a perfect getaway, but a former Apple employee was captured at the airport just before boarding a flight to China, after apparently stealing some of the tech giant's secret plans for self-driving cars. The ex-employee, Xiaolang Zhang, had been a person of interest, already interviewed several times by Apple, and also by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In a world where everyone wants a piece of the growing self-driving industry, we might have to get used to reports of betrayal and trade secret theft. US authorities have just arrested a former Apple employee for stealing the tech giant's self-driving trade secrets. Xiaolang Zhang was charged with stealing circuit boards and a computer server from Cupertino's self-driving car lab. He's also being accused of downloading a 25-page blueprint for a driverless car circuit board, which served as the basis for the criminal charge, though he reportedly downloaded some technical manuals and reports to his wife's computer, as well. According to Bloomberg, Zhang admitted that he downloaded Apple's driverless car files, so he could still have access to them even if he's not with the company anymore.

Federal prosecutors have charged a former Apple employee with stealing trade secrets related to Apple's autonomous vehicle program. Xiaolang Zhang allegedly worked on Apple's secretive self-driving car project. Zhang left Apple in April saying he was going to work for a Chinese electric vehicle company called Xpeng Motors. He is accused of copying more than 40GB of Apple intellectual property to his wife's laptop before leaving the company, according to court documents. The documents do not accuse Xpeng Motors of wrongdoing.