Xiaolang Zhang

Not to be confused with other Apple employees of the same name, who were not caught stealing trade secrets.

Former Apple engineer allegedly tried to smuggle company secrets to China

Xiaolang Zhang is a former hardware engineer of Apple Inc. He was convicted of stealing trade secrets related to Apple's electric car project.

Background

Zhang was born in China. He married and relocated to San Jose, California, becoming a permanent resident of the United States.

Career

Prior to working at Apple, Zhang had worked at Marvell Technology, a chip supplier.

Apple Inc.

Zhang joined Apple in 2015 and became a hardware engineer on its autonomous vehicle project. He worked as part of the project's Compute Team, testing circuit boards for sensors. According to court documents, he was among employees that were required to attend in-person secrecy training. In April 2018, Zhang took paternity leave after the birth of his child, during which he had traveled to China. On April 27, Apple recorded notably increased network activity by Zhang, compared to his previous years of employment. On the following April 30th, he resigned from the company, stating that he wanted to be with his ill parent. He revealed that he was planning to join XPeng, a Chinese competitor. His termination from Apple became effective on May 5, 2018 and he started working for XPeng two days later.

Investigation

In June 2018, federal investigators came to Zhang's home to search the premises, they found a laptop hidden in a laundry hamper, containing trade secrets about Ethernet technology from Marvell Technology, Zhang's previous employer. About 24 GB of confidential data was discovered to have been transferred from Apple to his wife's laptop through AirDrop. His wife told FBI agents that Zhang had attempted to flee to Canada shortly thereafter.

Federal charges and conviction

On July 7, 2018, Zhang was arrested by federal agents at Terminal B of San Jose Airport before attempting to board a flight to Beijing, China. He had purchased a lone ticket on Hainan Airlines at the last minute. He was accused of stealing Apple's internal files about its electric car project, including documentation about prototypes. Zhang retained Daniel Olmos as his attorney. On August 22 of that year, he pleaded guilty to the charges. The terms of his plea agreement were initially sealed by the court. On February 13, 2024, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Zhang to four months at a minimum-security federal prison, where he would be recommended an opportunity to teach math to other inmates.

See also

• Gaston Bastiaens, a former Apple executive who was convicted of corporate fraud.
• Jizhong Chen, a former Apple engineer who was charged with theft of trade secrets.
• Paul Devine, a former Apple manager who was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy.
• Gene Levoff, a former Apple attorney who was convicted of securities fraud.
• Dhirendra Prasad, a former Apple buyer who was convicted of mail and wire fraud.
• Weibao Wang, a former Apple engineer who was charged with theft of trade secrets.

External links

• United States v. Zhang at Casetext (2019-12-20)

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