Former Apple Project Titan engineer Xiaolang Zhang has pled not guilty on the charge of stealing trade secrets from Apple, Reuters reports. Zhang was formally indicted last week on a single count of trade secret theft on the allegation that he had stolen a 25-page blueprint for an autonomous vehicle circuit board.
The indictment followed an investigation by Apple’s Product Security Team and the FBI reported last week, with an FBI agent filing describing the circumstances around the charge and Zhang’s arrest as he was boarding a flight to China. At a hearing yesterday in San Jose, Zhang pled not guilty, and has retained his own lawyer who has declined by comment on the case.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California also declined to comment beyond simply acknowledging the indictment.
