Weibao Wang

Dr. Weibao Wang (Chinese: 王伟宝, born April 1988) is a former software engineer of Apple Inc. He is federally charged with stealing trade secrets related to Apple's electric car project.Former Apple engineer charged with stealing autonomous car tech trade secrets by Thomson Reuters, CBC News. 2023-05-16.
==Early life and education==
Wang is a native of , China.[Weibao Wang, Facebook. Accessed 2023-05-16. He studied business administration and management at , where he received a bachelor's degree in electrical, electronics, and communications engineering in 2011. In 2016, he received a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from in .Weibao Wang, RocketReach. Archived 2023-05-16. During his studies at Purdue, Wang also worked as a research assistant for in from September 2010 to March 2011.百度造车公司集度自动驾驶一号位到岗！苹果泰坦成员加盟，称今后最大对手是苹果汽车 by 雷刚, 量子位 (Chinese). 2021-11-03.
==Career==
Prior to completing his post-graduate studies, Wang was an intern at in 2011. He also worked on multi-sensor visual recognition as a system engineering intern at ' Perception and Analytics Lab in 2014.
===Apple Inc.===
Wang was hired by Apple in March 2016 to work on their electric car project while residing in Mountain View, California. He received in-person secrecy training on handling confidential materials.Today, the DOJ's Disruptive Technology Strike Force Indicted a former Apple engineer for stealing Autonomous Vehicle source code by Jack Purcher, Patently Apple. 2023-05-16. Wang's work as a tech lead on the project was focused on the development of computerized visual recognition. As a member of the Annotation Team, he was granted access to databases only available to a small percentage of Apple employees.DOJ charges former Apple engineer with theft of autonomous car tech for China by Rohan Goswami, NBC News. 2023-05-17.
In November 2017, Wang allegedly accepted a U.S.-based job from a Chinese company that was also developing self-driving automobiles. However, according to court documents, Wang allegedly did not inform Apple of this arrangement for over 4 months. On his last day at Apple on April 16, 2018, the company discovered that Wang had allegedly been accessing large amounts of proprietary data.
===After Apple===
After leaving Apple, Wang co-founded Singularity.AI and became the VP of technology, focused on development of artificial intelligence for the medical industry. In March 2020, he became the chief technology officer of Neolithic, a Chinese startup developing unmanned delivery vehicles.
In August 2021, Wang joined Jidu Auto Company, a subsidiary of Chinese technology conglomerate that is developing self-driving automobiles co-funded by . There, he became the head of autonomous driving. Wang stated that the ultimate competitor in the field would be Apple.
==Investigation==
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On June 27, 2018, federal investigators came to Wang's home in Mountain View to search the premises and reportedly found "large quantities" of confidential data, including source code from Apple. Wang reportedly promised to law enforcement officers that he would not leave the area. However, he allegedly fled on a one-way flight from San Francisco to , China later that same evening.
===Federal charges===
Wang was charged in the with stealing or attempting to steal six categories of trade secrets, with each offense carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a 250,000 fine.
==Gallery==
Weibao Wang Jidu.jpg|Publicity photo from Jidu
Weibao Wang Jidu shirt.png|Wang in a Jidu t-shirt
Weibao Wang Jidu kitchen.png|Wang at a Jidu kitchen
==References==
==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.
*Xiaolang Zhang, a former Apple engineer who was convicted of theft of trade secrets.
==External links==
*Weibao Wang at Facebook
*Weibao Wang at RocketReach
*Former Apple Employee Charged With Theft Of Trade Secrets at the U.S. Department of Justice (2023-05-16)
**Justice Department Announces Five Cases as Part of Recently Launched Disruptive Technology Strike Force (2023-05-16)
Category:Former Apple employees