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With many innovations happening around the world, simultaneously, there’s always a risk of technology going into the wrong hands. That’s what happened at the Apple’s headquarters, it seems. A former Apple engineer is the person in question. Ex-Apple staff, Xiaolang Zhang found himself guilty and sentenced to 120 days in jail, along with a fine of up to $147,000.
More importantly, he had a key role in Apple’s self-driving car, much like Tesla, but we’re unsure how Apple plans to pull it off. The project, called “Project Titan,” has been in the works for over a decade. Mark Gurman adds more to this story. He reported that Apple is instead focusing on bringing electric vehicles (EVs) into the picture, a future often touted by several carmakers. Coming back to Apple Car, reports suggest it’s not coming any sooner than 2028.
Ex-Apple engineer, Xiaolang Zhang, sentenced to 120 days in jail
There’s a little backstory to this incident. So, Xiaolang Zhang was caught at the airport in 2018 when he was about to fly to China. At first, he said he didn’t do it, but in 2022, he confessed to stealing secrets. Now, he has to go to jail and pay almost $147,000 to make up for it. At first, he could have gone to jail for up to 10 years and had to pay $250,000.
The ex-Apple worker was part of a team developing Apple’s self-driving cars. He got in trouble for taking important documents about the car’s technology and putting them on his wife’s computer. He also took some physical parts from Apple’s labs. After leaving Apple, he said he would work for another company in China. But Apple found out he was up to no good after checking security footage. He’s supposed to turn himself in and will likely go to a low-security jail near his home.
That’s pretty much it. In the meantime, we’ll have to wait until at least 2028 to see Apple roll a self-driving car or electric vehicle, at least.