Ex-Apple engineer admits to trade secrets theft

US prosecutors accused Zhang of downloading a 25-page Apple document to his wife’s computer that included schematic drawings of a circuit board design for a portion of an autonomous vehicle. — Reuters

A former Apple Inc engineer pleaded guilty to criminal charges that he stole proprietary information from the company while preparing to go work for a Chinese startup that makes electric cars with autonomous driving features.

Zhang Xiaolang, who was arrested in July 2018 on his way to catch a one-way flight to China, admitted to a single count of trade-secret theft at a hearing Monday in federal court in San Jose, California, according to the court’s electronic docket.