Apple's autonomous car source code was allegedly stolen by an ex-employee.
A person walks by an Apple Store on April 23, 2013 in San Francisco, California. Analysts believe that Apple Inc. will report their first quarterly loss in nearly a decade as the company prepares to report first quarter earnings today after the closing bell.
The former Apple software engineer, Weibao Wang, was among the individuals investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice's Disruptive Technology Strike Force.
"Today, a federal court in the Northern District of California unsealed an indictment of former Apple Incorporated (Apple) employee Weibao Wang," said DOJ via its official report on May 16.
The Department of Justice added that Wang was charged because of his attempted trade secrets theft.
Apple Autonomous Car Source Code Allegedly Stolen!
According to Mashable's latest report, the investigation against the former Apple employee began in 2018.
The Apple logo hangs in front of an Apple store on July 23, 2013 in New York City. Apple is due to report third-quarter earnings after the markets close Tuesday. Apple, the California based technology company, has watched its stock sink to $427.68 a share from an all-time high of $702 last September. The company is under pressure to release a new blockbuster product.
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It was only made public on Tuesday, May 16, after the Northern District of California confirmed that a federal grand jury had indicted the man.
Based on allegations made against Weibao, the man started working for Apple in March 2016.
After two years, he decided to leave Apple. In November 2017, he decided to sign another employment agreement with a China-based company which is believed to be developing autonomous vehicles.
But, the ex-Apple employee allegedly didn't inform the gadget maker regarding his new position with the China-based company.
Wang was discovered to have still access to large amounts of Apple's confidential information and sensitive proprietary.
Entire Apple Car Source Code Theft
Based on the federal grand jury indictment, Wang allegedly stole the entire Apple autonomous car source code in 2016.
Aside from this, the former Apple software expert is also accused of stealing an architecture design for an autonomous system.
Authorities also believed that Wang stole descriptions of hardware systems, such as inputs, modules, power, and architecture.
If Wang did share Apple's self-driving car source code with the Chinese competitor, then it would be a huge issue.
Remember, Chinese companies are well-known for their ability to copy U.S.-based products effectively.
You can click here to learn more about the alleged Apple car source code theft.
In other news, the new Apple Reality Pro is expected to appear at the WWDC 2023 event.
Meanwhile, the Apple Watch could lose the Facebook Messenger app this coming June.
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