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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
self-driving car startup and booking a last-minute flight to
China.
He was arrested at the San Jose airport after he passed through
a security checkpoint.
Xpeng , the Chinese electric car maker Zhang joined after
leaving Apple in 2018, said on its Twitter-like Sina Weibo
account on Tuesday that the company had no dispute with Apple
over the issue and that it was not involved in Zhang's case in
any form.
Zhang initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but according
to court documents on Monday, he had reached a plea deal with
prosecutors and changed his plea to guilty. The plea deal is
sealed and sentencing is set for November.
Zhang's attorney confirmed the plea agreement but declined to
comment further. Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jizhong Chen, the other former Apple engineer charged with trade
secret theft, has pleaded not guilty. He has a court hearing set
for Aug. 29.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Shanghai
Newsroom; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Gerry Doyle)
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