DOJ charges former Apple employee with theft of autonomous car tech for China

35-year-old Weibao Wang was charged with stealing Apple’s trade secrets for self-driving cars and fleeing to China. Officials say Wang is still at large and if convicted faces ten years in prison for each trade secret violation. NBC News’ Dana Griffin shares the latest.
» Subscribe to NBC News: nbcnews.to/Subs...
» Watch more NBC video: bit.ly/MoreNBCNews
NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows.
Connect with NBC News Online!
NBC News App: smart.link/5d0...
Breaking News Alerts: link.nbcnews.c...
Visit NBCNews.Com: nbcnews.to/ReadNBC
Find NBC News on Facebook: nbcnews.to/LikeNBC
Follow NBC News on Twitter: nbcnews.to/Foll...
Get more of NBC News delivered to your inbox: nbcnews.com/newsletters
#NBCNews #Apple #China

[@RicePho]

Should never let a person under investigation to be able to use their passport especially when they are international.

[@josephthebobcat5085]

Ridiculous. Like the "Catch me if you can" movie

[@Nona-business]

Like hooooow did they let him go?

[@johnsmokes6775]

Innocent until proven guilty

[@Itzadarkplace]

@@johnsmokes6775 you mean guilty till proven innocent

[@RicePho]

@Mira cause western "human rights" protects a international. If we were in China and being investigated, then trust me, we would be locked up in a gulag before even being investigated.

[@parkerbolt4233]

So the FBI let him go. Well done 🙄

[@61zulu77]

They were too busy investigating Trump.

[@thatotherguy7596]

​@@61zulu77 MAGAt? 😆

[@JohnnyleeDepp-bm9ki]

Transgender Paige Thompson released notorious hacker filipino onel de Guzman hired by NSA CIA INTEL ...THEY also released notorious CAPITAL ONE BANK HACKER AMERICAN CITIZEN PAIGE THOMPSON FROM Seattle WA....😂 RELIGIOUS Extremist TERRORIST FILIPINO HUMAN TRAFFICKER FILIPINO CULT LEADER QUIBOLOY... 😂😂DYSFUNCTIONAL DEPT OF FEDS

[@robertd7073]

He helps the new world order create new laws, new control, and progress to a one world government......he has friends like epstein

[@bobwilliamson8373]

​@@thatotherguy7596 lol you know he's right, that and they were busy colluding with social media giants to cover for Biden. Or going after parents at school board meetings. GTA was spot on when they called them FIB.

[@rsjrx]

My man worked for two companies for 4 months collecting pay and stealing source code. The hustle is out of control.

[@handlmycck]

not to mention the millions ccp paid for him to come back with all the information

[@bdh711]

He’s no Pablo Escobar

[@jeretso]

With remote work you can easily hustle more than 2 companies.

[@fyre2377]

Whats the point of all that when you wont be able to enjoy that money and freedom for 10 years

[@mynameisnotimportant2854]

Don’t hate the player. Hate the game

[@Claudiainn]

Very sad. And there are honest people out there who needs a job in that field. He has made it very hard for others. Wicked Soul.

[@tonyduong6159]

China is not here to take part, China is here to take over.

[@sblijheid]

Don't worry honest person, Apple would never hire you. You're too expensive.

[@Joseph-zd7kg]

​@@sblijheidyou're dumb for respond back to her with a snark remark. She is looking out for Asians.

[@herrguru4264]

@@sblijheid what are you talking about?? this dude was making $400K almost half a million a year. *What are you talking about?????* Innocent Claudia is 100% right.

[@ABunnyorABun]

The company believes Chinese people are the smartest people. 🙄

[@stophidinginthedark]

Who didn't see this coming? Is America asleep or the media just now figuring this out

[@JelMain]

Look, two years after Agent Orange revealed himself, he's still free. You've got stiffening of the arteries.

[@MusicalSavior23]

​@@JelMain Can you elaborate? I think of the Vietnam War when I hear "agent orange".

[@Turnkey_BM]

I'm not sure what "America" has to do with this.

[@marcanthony854]

The Biden Administration

[@gerrylee1687]

I’m part Chinese ancestry myself. I never trust anyone from mainland China. I stay away from them for a lot of reasons

[@monk3d]

For decades, corporate America has starved the public schools of tax money needed to fund STEM education. Why pay taxes when you can hire skilled labor from abroad? What they didn't count on was that these folks would steal their intellectual property, costing the US corporations trillions and loss of their competitive advantage. This keeps happening and they never learn. So short sighted.

[@bluestsea]

Exactly

[@sann5146]

💯 💯 💯 @monk3d excellent point, your comment needs to be highlighted everywhere and made to go viral. Corporate America is "penny wise, pound foolish" 😒

[@dreamcatcher5502]

Where is th he LOYALTY to America ???!!! These corporations hire a communist over an American ??? Apple got what they deserve !!! Corporations who sell out to cheap labor and non American employees are asking for it. America was the strongest when we were loyal to each other. Now it's whatever makes the most money. I hope you lost millions Apple and I hope you learned a lesson !!!! 🤬

[@Marc_Masters]

I guess they have more important things to do

[@simlowsb]

The average American aren't interested in STEM. They would rather take politics, social sciences, English, History etc.. you get my picture. If you attend STEM classes in the top university you will understand what I meant. You see nothing but Asians maybe a few Americans that's a rarity.

[@PatrickMcDonald-dh5nm]

China doesn't care about him, they use & own their citizens like pawns. Look what they did to Nortel in Canada & never forgot Covid 19 & the mess they left everyone in #papertiger 🇨🇳 🐯

[@laguy9091]

Letting this thief escapes back to China, what a disgrace.

[@swapw]

As an Asian American, this will only worsen discrimination. Pretty soon, we will all be subjected to immigration checks before being able to work at a prestigious firm because of these pests that make us look bad.

[@j.a.3138]

Exactly. Companies now will think twice about hiring outsiders.

[@kirbywaite1586]

Everyone should be checked.

[@sparkle3000]

Welcome to my 🌎 Everytime a Black person does something wrong, you all look at me. Good luck.

[@alonaranjo2931]

only dmb people will judge you for how you look or your heritage background, not that their own citizens are better...

[@andicee8324]

And that extra scrutiny is well warranted, you can thank the CCP for that.

[@exvandal187]

Why any non Chinese company would let any Chinese national have any tech secrets is mind blowing!

[@bluestsea]

They are so stupid

[@memoobaba]

because the US is lacking knowledge , why do you think the tech field is filled with Indians and Chinese lol

[@nickl5658]

Because most new tech is designed and built by chinese.... and designing tech is very hard work, very long hours and needs very smart people... and the best paying job in the US is not designing new tech... it is managing other people's money. Smart Americans know this so they go there. Smart non-Americans coming to the US, do what jobs that they can... and that is designing new tech, even if it does not pay as well.

[@memoobaba]

@@nickl5658 Tech pays well above the average American salary

[@lilcourtny08]

​@@nickl5658that is a lie. It's designed in the US and built in China because of the cheap labor. Apple builds the iphone and it's products in China because of cheap labor cost. US citizens will not 40+ hours a week for $500 a month

[@milothecorgi12]

This is reported like something new. I feel like any valuable source code from US companies (or even most government organizations) is incredibly easy to steal if you are an employee. I'm sure foreign governments/companies have 98% of everything already. Over half of software engineers in the US are foreign born or 2nd generation. And you aren't allowed to question anyone's intentions or loyalty in the US for obvious reasons. Companies spend years and billions of dollars developing software that can be stolen within minutes.

[@turfthenerf]

You are completely wrong. SDE projects are complex by nature, any single project from any team would have 10-100 different files to even build and run on the dedicated server. The actual functional "product" that can even slightly function would rely on 10-100 of these projects to even begin running. So the only people who can even know which files to steal are people who organize and understand the entire scale of the project, and these people are usually Senior level SDE who have 5-10 years of experience (and it has to be within the same company because they have too many techs). Sit on that thought for a minute. You have to work intensively in a competetive field at rapidly changing FAANG companies for 5-10 years, to even be able to understand what you should steal. Secondly, all of their computers that have connectivity are pre-vetted and airtight. Most of the time your computer is issued by the company, whose IT department has 100% control and knoweledge over your access, and you will not be-able to unlock it when disconnected from company network. You may use one of your own laptop, but you have to inject it with the company built backdoors that they would have 100% control over it too. Then, each project, each equipment that is related to the project, they are all guarded by specific Access & Control logics--One would have to take a college level computer security class for at least one month to even undertand how tight these things are. Simply put, you have to apply for 10 different access and authentications to even start working at these companies, and all those access can be turned off once your project is done. It is just not possible for most low level SDEs to steal these techs. The person in question is a person who is capable of being a CTO. His case is uniquely coincidential, meaning he has the tech knowledge background that most of normal SDEs would not have in a life time, he has a specific authentication&authorization from within Apple to be able to see those files, and these access are not turned off when he left the company. (they usually are turned off automatically, following the leaving process) He was also caught, but was able to flee before the investigation process are concluded. I understand that you would "feel like" that these companies are dealing with a lot of these cases every year, and they do, and most of the time they are very secure, because they are very good at what they do, and they also steal from each other from time to time--because that is just how the free market works.

[@monash4250]

Why so upset? The West has been been stealing and plundering the rest of the world for centuries.

[@geometerfpv2804]

​@@turfthenerfThis is exaggerated.... "They won't know what to steal"...just steal the entire source, no? Let the techs in your home country figure it out later. "You can't even access your computer off of the network"...my partner works in defense and has a security clearance, and this isn't even true for her, much less a less secure job. How in the world would everyone be working from home if this was true? Yes, not everyone has access to the source, but you don't have to be some kind of superhuman to be working on the actual code. You're making it sound like being a mid level programmer is an Olympic feat...it's really not. Plenty of people work these jobs. Plenty of those people are foreign nationals. I don't know why you figure they have to be "low level SDEs", China has plenty of high level talent to send over here. If the close imitation of US technologies by China is any indication, I would guess this happens pretty frequently. My partner is certainly in a position to steal the code from her job, and she's been there for 6 years...and again, this is a brand-name defense contractor, and she's on a secret clearance. In fact, they had this exact thing happen at their company this year, if I recall. The guy just brought his company computer back to his home country, and they had the stuff off of it before it was realized what had happened. You can take stuff off the machines, it's not like they are blocked from transferring and using files in some way, you seem to be implying that they are.

[@DvACtOid]

As a fellow Chinese STEM graduate seeking work in the US, it's disheartening to see how the actions of a few individuals can negatively impact the reputation of the majority. It's frustrating to see fellow countrymen betray their own companies and countries for their own selfish gains. Sometimes, it makes me regret being born and raised in China. However, it's important to remember that theft of trade secrets is not only unethical but also illegal. Hopefully, justice will be served, and Wang's behavior should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone thinking of doing something similar.

[@thecoffeemaker7444]

Y’all should never be trusted at all

[@kevindunn2663]

Yes it’s illegal but will China do anything stop it? If anything it’s apart of their plan to gain these secrets and I’m sure he was paid handsomely by the powers that be

[@Gabdoon2]

​@@thecoffeemaker7444actually Amerikka has bad image almost everywhere just wait 20/30 yrs till every country drops the dollar.

[@hkfoo3333]

you are definitely not Chinese from your language . So obvious. Chinese do not envy going to US . ONly Indians envy and work their entire school days to go to US.

[@sareeyemanusqaame8723]

@@thecoffeemaker7444 🤣🤣🤣 one thing is clear you won't be able to bully and destroy China as you guys have done to Islam the last 3 decades. China will conquer you wether you like it or not it's just a matter of time

[@PhrontDoor]

He was an obvious flight risk. What bonehead let him keep his passport or failed to keep him detained? He should have been placed on a NO-FLY watchlist before the warrant was signed.

[@marieabineau]

pppfffttt...fbi.bought his plane ticket....

[@xx_Joker_xx]

So many questions... who reported this to the DOJ? How and when did they learn of the theft? Did he know Hunter Biden?

[@npc2480]

They let him go because they had no evidence of any crimes being committed and still don’t. This is just more anti-China propaganda. The result from this will be more discrimination against Asians and since Asians graduate from STEM at a higher rate, more and more Asians will have to leave the US, as well as other western countries, to find work. The West will find itself in a brain drain, meanwhile, china will advance at even a higher rate thanks to the US.

[@gundam12p]

Ok mr .expert ? I know everything right let me guess you also a medical expert and lawyer right?

[@xx_Joker_xx]

@savesilence well stated. However, even with just suspicion, they should be able to prevent someone from leaving the country. They actually do that all the time and rightfully so. It's not totally restricting someone's freedoms to do that in my opinion. It's not an all or nothing thing.

[@Dominion.Intelligence]

This is what happens when companies try to outsource.

[@acewings221]

Yeah i know…hard to feel bad for Apple lol

[@gatech5190]

nothing was outsourced, he was hired on his merits in the US

[@T1Oracle]

​@@gatech5190 while ignoring the merits of black tech workers born in the US.

[@Rover.M07]

@@T1Oracle maybe he is cheaper than us employee

[@sblijheid]

@Gatech H1B, while American techs are ignored. They had it coming.

[@ronin2292]

Did they state that he was home at the time?...But managed to board a flight? So they let him go? Or am I misunderstanding?

[@kevinye1753]

As a Chinese I am ashamed on this guy, and I beg US government should never allow any Chinese passport holder study technology or work in high tech companies in this country.

[@seansingh4421]

They’re already doing this on a Massive scale. This is just one case. You wont believe how many Chemical Formulations are Classified materials in just Enterprise settings just for this reason

[@HingleMacCringleberry]

No one thought to take his passport?

[@chknparm990]

What legal basis would they have for taking his passport? Besides, China decides if he should get a passport or not, and if his passport was confiscated, China could issue him a new one.

[@HingleMacCringleberry]

@@chknparm990 He was obviously a flight risk. There's no way he would have been able to enter the US without a passport so he has one.

[@CillianMccringleberry269]

​@@chknparm990 DOJ messed up not arresting Weibao directly following the raid when they could then take his passport seeing that he is a flight risk. Confiscating passport is a deterrence: sure he has other options to escape the country, but imagine what you would do in his shoes without a passport. I doubt Weibao planned for his passport to be confiscated seeing as he was still here, so unless he's got the government connections to get another passport without the DOJ noticing and before trial, it's much tougher to escape prosecution.

[@sct4040]

I would think he has a chinese passport.

[@barbm8822]

@@chknparm990 you can’t board a flight without a passport. He may have been able to get another from the consulate but that would have taken time.

[@scylla5114]

I see nothing wrong with what he did , American companies do it everyday and yet nothing happens.

[@crs1474]

This type of crime should be punishable with death penalty. It’s the only deterrent these cowards will ever understand.

[@bboyjamaica]

Too extreme.

[@DrD3m3nt0]

The greed of the companies outranks their common sense.

[@rickhammond2473]

Apple soaking the people with their products and the people love it.

[@johnsebastino4659]

cheap labor you want cheap labor wait till you see the same thing happening with Indian workers suddenly you find Indian moving and taking stolen tech to India

[@mykek1148]

@@johnsebastino4659 america loves cheap labor

[@franciscocz8384]

greed? You are wrong. Chinese people (and other asians) are hired because they are intellectually superior. (This is a fact companies know very well thats why high-tech companies in US has about 50% of employees of asian origin, but asian population in the US is just 5%) All of these employees are working at technical/research roles, while keeping the managerial jobs for white people. Now imagine how the US could compete with a country with 1.4 billions asians (China). Well ChatGPT looks very promising, maybe that can close the gap, but we will see.

[@gechen8349]

C.C.P country.

[@24kRobot]

The is happening so much more than the media is reporting.

[@seansingh4421]

Couple of Phd students at my university were suspended because of this phenomenon

[@gijohns7860]

Stop Asian hate

[@cosmosben6726]

@@gijohns7860 Not Asian, only mainland Chinese.

[@seansingh4421]

@@gijohns7860 This is not hate bro. This is serious industrial espionage by CCP, doesn’t matter who does it. It’s espionage

[@d-pain4844]

Black lives matter

[@bng2679]

As a person from HK. I can assure you this is just tip of an iceberg. This is just how this country works, they have people everywhere.

[@user-fx5sw4jy7hYz9Hzi]

You raided with FBI agents and then you let him leave the country one way ticket out? What?

[@KennethAllen-rj7bf]

They do everything for their home countries instead of training up these kids right here in our backyard we want to to outsource everything due to racism and other social constructs across America. We have everything we need right here. Start initiatives to teach these kids coming from the poor communities in Arkansas, Chicago and California . These companies should be ashamed of themselves

[@vgrepairs]

Our people are way too dumb for that. Kids don't even want to graduate high school anymore.

[@vgrepairs]

@@iii___iii how tf is that racist

[@vgrepairs]

@@iii___iii nahhh bruh I'll take you to downtown LA or SD and show you plenty of young "asians" on the street up to no good. It isn't about capability, it's about CULTURE. And yes, the chinese education system produces enough talent to be exported into the higher echelon internationally.

[@vgrepairs]

@@iii___iii Plenty of ghettoass asians just like every other demo. YOU'RE the one sounding racist now bro

[@gijohns7860]

Stop Asian hate

[@drflat9223]

That is what you get for trying to save thousands (cheap tech labor) while losing millions (stolen tech).

[@q3itachyon209]

pls tell me what autonomous car apple is making? iCar?

[@edenassos]

Cheap tech labor? He worked at Apple in California. He was getting paid a silicon valley salary. Perhaps you might want to use that thing up there once in a while.

[@tl1533]

They did not save any money from hiring these people. US should do a better job to educate Americans so they can take highly sensitive jobs such as these. Even some Americans are sellouts!

[@salflores1202]

@@edenassos He was easily making over 500k and maybe even stock options. You are not some low level engineer if you have access to the whole source code.

[@sircurlyfries1326]

@@salflores1202 I bet it was easy af for him to access someone else's credentials. Social engineering is OP. I bet he made less then 120k

[@ThePhandey]

Moral of the story: Never hire Chinese employee for secretive high value project. You know what happens next.

[@Teepart1997]

Hire Taiwanese, not Chinese !!!

[@ArabicReja973]

Biggest concerns of Business operating in China 🇨🇳 are about: - IP thefts, - unfair competition and - human rights violations.

[@rabbit719]

fit US well

[@dianasong4594]

Moving back to state all U.S. companies which are in China.

[@lonesomealaskan2599]

Speaking of human rights violation, may I remind you the fact that Native American people have not occupied an inch of European land, or slaughtered a single European in Europe; while European Colonizers have occupied both North & South America lands and terminated 99.9% of Natives population. 😔 In fact, Native Americans population (steep) decline in general occurred not in 15th, 16th & 17th century, when Europeans first arrived and populated mainly along the Eastern shore; but rather in the 18th & 19th century when more and more European Colonizers, so-called settlers took over their beloved motherland coast to coast. For instance, here in California alone there were an estimated half a million (500,000) indigenous Native people inhabited there before Spanish arrived. Less than 5 % were hunter gatherers while the overwhelming majority settled down and along oceans, rivers, creeks, lakes, waterways and grew agricultural stuff for food. After Spanish and Anglo conquest, after placing them in Rancheria & Reservation, less than 20,000 survived. 😔 Native Americans: Our Native American population in our motherland, the Continent of America before the European Colonizers arrived, was around 15 millions, while the European population in their motherland, the Continent of Europe was around 25 millions. Today, Native American population is 15 million, while the European population, in the Continents of America + Europe, is a staggering 'TWO BILLION'! A shocking sad truth. 😔 The world: It's about time to decolonize the Colonized lands, and return it to rightful owners Native American people. Notorious global cardinal crimes the West has committed, and benefited a great deals, such as Slavery & Colonialism had long been over, why on earth is notorious Colonization still lingering on? Native Americans: We're still here. We are not going anywhere. 😔

[@hellyeah7403]

@@lonesomealaskan2599 My jaw dropped as I learnt Native American population in their motherland, the Continent of America before the European Colonizers arrived, was around 15 millions, while the European population in their motherland, the Continent of Europe was around 25 millions. Today, Native American population is 15 million, while the European population, in the Continents of America + Europe, is a staggering 'TWO BILLION'! It is a shockingly sad truth.

[@hygogc1685]

virus😜

[@swedesam]

If you stay real quiet at Apple HQ in Cupertino, you could almost hear the raging laughter in China.

[@rayr1861]

This is too bad that US customs and Immigration let this person go out of the country.

[@theinfralink6598]

Is this why Apple got out of car business because every technology it has got stolen and it doesn’t have anymore? And why China is so much ahead in EV and autonomous driving?

[@JohnSeong]

As an Asian Canadian, I don’t know what the heck was going on in that guy’s mind. He had MULTIPLE stable jobs both in Cali and China. This is like copying the Mona Lisa. I treat software engineering as a field of art. This is VERY dishonourable and had reinforced the negative stereotypes/connotations. Anyone in the right mind wouldn’t do this.

[@rodrozil6544]

He needs more money

[@JustMe-vz3wd]

no its not dishonorable at all. tech should be shared not weaponized, the tech will help the economy that benefits all people.

[@uhidk18]

Patriotism

[@fishingdad88]

He was a state actor

[@rooday5173]

If everything on the news is what you really need to know then this 🌎 would be better. But It's really the narrative that this news cycle Is meant to drive to justify some other action Down the road -- in the pipeline. They Don't really want to put him in jail. His Running back to 🇨🇳 serves the narrative Just Fine.

[@ChooseLoveToday316]

This became real for me when I started seeing small electronics that very obviously were either made in the same factory as name brand items or were directly copied and had a no name brand slapped on them. That's just at consumer level. When you get into bigger stuff it's probably mind blowing what has happened.

[@orawancarlile6192]

It's the company's fault also thinking the Chinese factories with cheap labor will give them more profit but unaware that it was copying the trade's secret.

[@allenl9214]

Yeah... Knock parts have made it into projects like the F35 jet fighter. What chance do consumer projects have 😂😂

[@mykek1148]

Who are you? A nobody

[@gechen8349]

C.C.P country.

[@cindymora6714]

CISCO create a Grey Market problem, same hardware without Brand sale from China... That's what you get moving the factories to China 🤷‍♀️

[@NguyenTran-ki9lp]

I' not surprised at all to hear this information. It happened many times in the past and still..... again and again. It seems the high-tech companies do little bit to stop it!

[@NickiStaff]

How did y’all let this man go 😢

[@plantiron]

That's why I think FBI ain't telling us what's going on

[@ecor150]

(H!nk privilege

[@moneymaker4417]

Because they say he’s a “model minority “ of course lol

[@plantiron]

@@moneymaker4417 : More like a double agent now. Most likely they flipped him.

[@olinafan4459]

because he is a harmless league of legends, piano playing, nerd

[@fishingdad88]

Now you can stop wondering why China has excel so fast in the last 15 years in auto tech, space, defence and what not. America takes 50-100 years to achieved all these. Too bad, major damages has been done.

[@qj5978]

Take a look at the Russian space shuttle. About as exact a copy of the US space shuttle as you could get.

[@thepostofficeprince8819]

Space, lol!!! Went to the moon in 69 but still can’t go back..

[@qj5978]

@@thepostofficeprince8819 Because the Democrats defund NASA. I know if I had to go to space, I would want it to be on a US designed and constructed vehicle. And who do you think created the international space station that is benefitting so many other countries that contributed nothing? LOLOLOL

[@1HeatWalk]

every country steals the teachnonogy of other countires. Look up where gunpowder, paper, and the first typing/print system comes from?

[@upendo.3570]

​@@qj5978 usa copied from russia you know that

[@comosediceesoo681]

I feel like Chinese citizens shouldn't have any kind of clearance in high tech or military tech or even any research for that matter I know this is definitely not the first time it happenes

[@Brokenrocktail]

Good luck enforcing it. They’re all in bed with universities

[@cornpopwasabaddude4729]

Apple tech are based in China & Apple's employees are Chinese, why is it a big deal? It's Apple's choice & decision for being greedy.

[@XDaddyBender]

Funny how this has been going on for like the last 10 years but only comes to light when big tech cries to big brother...

[@hygogc1685]

How about covid? nobody seems to care how it came by. 70% who worked in China during 2019, knew about all the lies China has put us with. Nobody is saying anything.

[@tankerock]

How did he get on a plane after getting raided while at home?

[@n3xu59988]

Won't hire Americans who are eager to work for Apple but Hires Chinese Spies...

[@wolfthornhawkridge5705]

This is what happens when US companies invest in outsourcing. P.S they’ll never find this guy and china won’t divulge his whereabouts.

[@JoelErway-pq9ij]

They are not "investing." They are saving money. These visa workers from India and China are paid less than US citizens. That's why these tech companies will bring them in. If anything, why don't these companies prioritize hiring direct US allies such as workers from Korea and Japan? We know both India and China are competing with us economically on a huge level yet they decide to hire these workers that directly compete with us.

[@jeffreyrivera5427]

@@JoelErway-pq9ij Not true at all, they get pay same as US person based on location, problem is simply not enough graduate with stem degrees with master and phd coming out of US system to fill those jobs. that is a fact. Only 20% of high school graduates are interested or have the course work to take stem fields in college. It gets worst as very few Americans are looking to spend 6 extra years of studies to fill this jobs. India and China just have a cultural advantage of having kids from early age study hard, or you can say force by parents to prepare early for this jobs. Korea and Japan have better quality of life than US is not as attractive for them , they are also hired just not as much. We got India and China best minds here so this is not a one way street. Instead of force them up with h1B long processing times and kick them out, we need to help them instead to stay with US citizenship and have them forfeit their own citizenship.

[@Rico34]

🙄 Dude is looonnngg gone. For all we know, his plane ticket was state funded. ⚠️ Let this be a lesson learned to ALL companies with respect to trade secrets & privileged-access.

[@backtoschool9760]

haha they dont care one iota. u.s. companies are complete garbage. i use them as a personal means of funds, thats it.

[@daomingjin]

i bet he lives in Shenzhen. LOL.

[@mikicerise6250]

What's the lesson? I mean, this guy took a job with Baidu while still working at Apple and nobody even noticed.

[@Rico34]

@@mikicerise6250 Many lessons here: HR departments have to do better jobs with assessing candidates. Secrecy departments need stronger protocols on how access is granted. Corporate policy should be tightened all around.

[@mikicerise6250]

Pffft. HR people don't even know what they're hiring for. They don't know a hash from a hamburger. All they know how to evaluate is whether or not you've got that "winning" smile and "go-getter attitude". They choose people based on how right they 'feel'. They don't measure anything objective. These days they don't even read your resumes. Too much work, they say. 🙄 Got AIs to do that for them. If data secrecy is truly critical, a more hardware and brick-and-mortar oriented solution may be the best ticket. Have controlled access points on-premises on locked machines without data ports except to company servers. But then what's going to stop an engineer from just memorizing the 'secret sauce' and ferreting it out little by little to their paymaster? It's not like everything Apple does is unique, it's probably just a few techniques that set them apart, and a determined spy could simply learn them. I mean, this is what NDAs are for. The FBI had this guy and let him get away. All they had to do was get a judge to declare him a flight risk and monitor his movements. They dropped the ball.

[@e.fooyoung7451]

The bottom line: The technology sectors must not hire any *-Chinese-* nationals, *period.*

[@yolantida]

He is the 1st Chinese thief and he is not the last Chinese thief either!

[@phototristan]

His punishment should be he has to go work for Twitter.

[@lih-fk8by]

He has to stand on a NYC subway platform next to 1000 black guys

[@fsufootball6984]

I don't get it

[@marsallen4298]

@Li H sounds like you had a bad experience

[@dr.migueltorrezedd8651]

@@lih-fk8by not sure what your point is buddy. I'm not sure what black people have to do with this when it's white people who want him.

[@dr.migueltorrezedd8651]

@@marsallen4298 probably just being ignorant.

[@mathgasm8484]

That is what you get for hiring foreign nationals.

[@TwoLeggedTriceratops]

Yup. No sympathy from anyone, just laughs and facepalms

[@dexterplameras3249]

Not enough qualified individuals to fill the skills gap in the country. If you don't code, get yourself a Computer Science degree, spend 5 years learning how to code after graduating into company then spend extra hours of your own time learning coding design patterns, best practices, multiple programming languages and backend systems like most programmers do today. Easy right? America.

[@edenassos]

Asians are just superior.

[@ianwparedes]

@@dexterplameras3249 this is why it baffles me that the u.s govt doesnt invest in its own citizens with free education. all that money to waste but no money to train your own people.

[@leihtory7423]

The whole point of letting foreign nationals in. the whole point of immigration. the whole point of foreign students. Was so that they could learn and Replicate US prosperity & bring it back to their poor countries. So they can develop elevate their poor countries. So they dont have to line up on the border for a better life. Exactly what this guy was doing.

[@alpzepta]

Now I see why BYD beating Tesla

[@didierduplantier8359]

Dude should be sent to Guantanamo instead of walking free

[@yuema2078]

Shameful. If I were running a company I would never hire someone who makes a career by stealing.

[@impulsiveurge5837]

But thats a very valuable information he stole from Apple. So competing companies would want that info.

[@rickhammond2473]

@@impulsiveurge5837 Valuable they have nothing Musk software is valuable no one has matched it yet and will not.He is 15 years ahead of the rest of the auto industry.

[@doc-vg9lq]

@@rickhammond2473 you have no clue. electric car manufacturers are real close, if not getting better than Tesla very soon.

[@vhrui904]

White people Stole Land from Native American.... Karma😂😂

[@rickhammond2473]

@@doc-vg9lq Let me know when they are close until then I will enjoy Tesla dominating and my stock soar and then pass Apple as the largest company in the world that will be in 4-5 years time.

[@ForNika]

Blame is on Greedy American Corporations who hire these people to save money instead of hiring Americans.

[@j.a.3138]

Exactly. Microsoft, Amazon and all those big corporations are laying of thousands of Americans and are undercutting them by hiring foreigners from India, etc for cheaper labor.

[@feels6233]

Exactly

[@aheimdahl5201]

Yup.

[@isaaca.5553]

This is a very wrong and ignorant comment on many levels. Tech salaries are not cheap no matter who they hire. They are interested in the best talent not the cheapest talent. Go to American universities and you’d find their STEM graduate programs filled with international students ( Chinese and Indian primarily). Where do you think you think they will find the “American” talent when everybody wants to be a tiktok star?

[@HipHopTheme]

Lol this is racism, sad Americans , just admit you’re racist

[@scott21784]

This is not the first time Chinese stealing tech.

[@recuerdos2457]

National labs need to take note

[@alecisback1]

Stop hiring these spies

[@aheimdahl5201]

Exactly

[@hygogc1685]

Ask the univeristies 1st, they seem to still be very happily receiving all the tuition fees and donations from China.

[@dwayne9743]

It's like letting a known thief into your house and your surprised when something's missing.

[@ziiiim]

This MF is gonna put all of us Chinese living in America in a very awkward position 🤬

[@StoryMode-tx3wb]

Gee, who would have ever thought that storing chickens with a fox would end badly...

[@andersonsystem2]

Wow yeah the same thing happened to me when I worked for McDonald’s and Burger King at the same time 😂my manager was like how do they make the fries bro 😂

[@KP-xi4bj]

China isn't called the world's biggest Xerox machine for no reason. LOL

[@inspiredbynatureinspiredby5586]

This is what happens when you don't invest heavily Americans first❤

[@danish-texas]

$1,000 billion idea stolen by an employee.

[@willbroccolo8389]

Yeah as a tech dude they'll NEVER catch him, and NEVER stop this sort of thing.

[@ChrisBTrappiN]

Sry If this is a stupid question, but why do you say that?

[@HerbChao14xs]

@@ChrisBTrappiN it's cause someone willing to take this risk to just glean source code, and then to have the where with all to then get a ticket out of San Fran to China has taken steps (or knows how) to minimize the chances of being caught. Between my ex-gf who "borrowed" money from me and other people (and then went zero-dark thirty) it's a tie who's going to be harder to catch (and then bring to justice).

[@doc-vg9lq]

@@ChrisBTrappiN they dont know what they're talking about. its the internet, anyone can make absolute statements with no real clue.

[@tannyocean9984]

@@ChrisBTrappiN tech corps need educated labor without liberal entitlement, so they hire international workers who only care about the pays and not the politics. International contractors will cost them more money, but they have less benefits, take less day-offs, and they don’t care about making political changes to the system. The workers can give secrets to companies that are not even on their employers’ radar for extra payouts and also backup opportunities if the tech corp cuts their contracts, which happens all the time. Valuable secrets can also buy protection from international governments, especially with China and Russia. Look at how Russia protects Snowden even though he’s American. This is why these things are impossible to stop

[@transmitterrelay11]

It’s so sad this is happening however it’s also happening in google Microsoft and almost every major tech company. The Chinese government has been recruiting for years while the government focused on social media antics

[@AAAAAA-tj1nq]

This is what you get for hiring foreigners hahah

[@gechen8349]

C.C.P country

[@hygogc1685]

our policians just let them pass by

[@cuteandfunnyearthlings2863]

You know MS is operating in china and is hiring chinese hahahahah

[@sblijheid]

It's not sad. They refuse to hire Americans in favor of cheap Asians. They had it coming.

[@JohnTube2K]

More reason for Apple to get the heck out of China.

[@martuuk8964]

A morally and technologically weak nation has to steal from superior nations in order to compete. Nothing surprising here.

[@Espi.84]

Chinese steal to copy from US? 😮 you don’t say 😂

[@vgrepairs]

Stole from Apple? Ironic...Steve Jobs stole from Steve Wozniak...

[@Espi.84]

@@vgrepairs ok, then that makes this fine then. All fair game am I right?

[@upendo.3570]

​@@Espi.84 usa stole space stuff from soviet union is that bad too ?

[@vgrepairs]

@@Espi.84 yup

[@monique77771]

................well I hate to say it but we could have done better

[@truthhurts5111]

It's impossible for them to stop it. Stop hiring Chinese employees

[@mynameisnotimportant2854]

Won’t stop because American politicians and Chinese are in the same bed together. American politicians take Chinese money and take Israel money. American politicians have been brought out by China

[@BowNaRRowYerMum]

Prison for life.

[@Honor.DreamsCODM]

When will usa ever learn

[@hoodnavyseal9212]

Let’s find his family & relatives .

[@euj0]

Thats what China does.

[@FinanceWisdomTech]

It's very shameful thing to do, it will increase the immigrants not being hired in the high level positions.

[@louisax4058]

and they still think this is an single event...

[@raysstudio970]

Apple let’s employees download the entire source code and store it on their personal computers? This doesn’t sounds suspicious at all. Trillion dollar level company doesn’t have a security scanning capability. Also, working for a similar industry international firm is nothing wrong. Neither is working two jobs at the same time.

[@downundabrotha]

They actually don't I used to work for Apple he would've stole in secret and btw they check all phones and block signals in certain floors. He would've stole it via USB or hard drive but I would say he's an advanced hacker because they have numerous firewalls and alerts.

[@twei2840]

Apple didn't even sue the guy or even cared much...Are DOJ charging the guy on apples behalf?

[@pranavkashif]

They always do that. I have worked with Chinese companies their motto is get the system fast and get learned by a Chinese employee.

[@jarrodyuki7081]

you dont even have to be an employee to steal information i can simply br a janitor and have a hidden flashdrive or pineapple or take pictures with my phone.........................

[@monkeywrench1951]

For YEARS, US company executives decided to basically give the technology for free to China in exchange for a few cents savings, just to get their next bonus and good earnings on stock options. Not only did they completely turn the production capabilities to China, but they gave away the technology for free. These CEOs retire with fat checks, and investors and employees and the US in general take all the losses.

[@rawgtu]

Department of cybersecurity and compliance should be held accountable for this. Working on sensitive projects should be in secure facility where engineers have no access to phones. And the facility should be monitored 24h .

[@worldlife9834]

Remember, Apple chooses to be a Chinese company by locating their manufacturing in China and India.

[@rodrozil6544]

Do you know localisation? Guess how much shipping cost other side of the world?

[@Krantzstoner]

@@rodrozil6544 Except that's not why Apple has their manufacturing plants in Zhengzhou: it's because of lax labour laws in China and the cheap exchange rate. Apple literally has underpaid child labour assembling iPhones just so they can maximize profits for Apple shareholders and C-level execs, a.k.a. exploitation of child labour. Imagine if Apple cared as much about the fate of Chinese children, or forced slave labour of Uyghur Muslim people in China, as they do about their precious "trade secrets". "Apple discovered that Suyin Electronics, one of its Chinese-based suppliers, relied on child labor on multiple occasions, but still took three years to fully cut ties, The Information reported on Thursday. Ten former members of Apple's supplier responsibility team told The Information the company has refused or has been slow to stop doing business with suppliers that repeatedly violate its labor policies when doing so would hurt its profits. Apple has faced intense criticism recently amid reports that it relies on forced Uyghur labor and protests over poor working conditions and wage theft by workers that make its products." www.businessinsider.com/apple-knowingly-used-child-labor-supplier-3-years-cut-costs-2020-12 "Several Apple suppliers may have used forced labor in China, according to The Information. Working with two human rights groups, the publication identified seven companies that supplied products or services to Apple and supported forced labor programs, according to statements made by the Chinese government. The programs target the country’s Muslim minority population, particularly Uyghurs living in Xinjiang. Six of the seven suppliers were said to participate in work programs operated by the Chinese government, The Information reports, which human rights groups describe as frequently offering cover for forced labor. Workers can be jailed for refusing to join the work programs, the report says, and those enrolled in the programs are often moved far from their homes. One of the suppliers operated in Xinjiang, the region of China predominantly populated by Uyghurs and where the most egregious human rights violations have reportedly taken place." www.theverge.com/2021/5/10/22428899/apple-suppliers-china-uyghur-forced-labor-report Apple bases their manufacturing in China, because the shareholders want their dividends, and North American consumers want iPhones (relatively) cheap. Let's face it, iPhones would cost way more if manufactured in North America, because unlike China, in the US the workers actually are allowed to unionize and have hard-won labour laws that ban(ned) child labour, even if the Republicans are desperately trying to rollback those laws against child labour, as evidenced by the number of children found working at McDonalds. And higher labour costs means less profits for Apple. It's not because Apple cares about the costs of shipping iPhones, or they'd build multiple manufacturing bases on every continent to cut down on shipping (which would actually be better for the environment and better for labour). www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/mcdonalds-franchisees-fined-over-child-labor-law-violations.html "Earlier this week Republican state lawmakers in Wisconsin circulated a new bill that would allow workers as young as 14 years old to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants, down from the state’s current age minimum of 18 years old. The legislative proposal “creates a simple solution” to workforce staffing issues, said the Republican bill sponsors in a memo they circulated to colleagues on Monday. Wisconsin is not the only state looking to loosen labor laws affecting minors, and over the last few months there have been been Republican-led bills in states like Arkansas, Ohio, and Iowa aimed at making it easier for teenagers to work in more jobs and for more hours in the day. Some labor experts say the proposed changes pose little threat to workplace safety, but they’ve overlapped with shocking exposés in the New York Times and Washington Post that uncovered exploited migrant children working illegally in American jobs. On Tuesday, the US Labor Department announced it had found two 10-year-olds working at a McDonald’s in Louisville, Kentucky, sometimes until 2 am. As the Wisconsin lawmakers suggested, these new bills are partly a reaction to the competitive labor market and struggles businesses have been facing to fill open positions. But they’re also rooted in longstanding conservative opposition to workplace regulation, and some labor advocates worry they’re just the opening salvo to a broader attack on government safety rules." www.vox.com/policy/2023/5/3/23702464/child-labor-laws-youth-migrants-work-shortage

[@realnapster1522]

India is not China 😂

[@vacationbliss9429]

China has a long practice of sending high school graduates here for college and then graduate school. With the expectation that they will get a job in the tech or defense industry and have access to classified material. China has a very patient approach to espionage. And will invest decades in developing an asset here. The US plays checkers when it comes to intelligence and China has been playing chess for decades.

[@Passions]

That's because the US doesnt need to steal tech, it innovates. Big difference.

[@b30574]

chinese parents send their high school graduates here because they think that it’ll be a better education, not to get classified info….

[@patrickavila3003]

Not all Chinese students are spies, but China will send students here to get jobs for both classified information and industrial espionage. Foreign born engineers should never have access to sensitive information.

[@ivantsang2156]

This is why some high tech company are not hiring Chinese people because of this

[@gloriarascon1550]

AND IS NOT THE ONLY ONE.

[@thachnnguyen]

There are a lot of them, both in private and public sectors. Companies like Apple deserve it. Stupid question to ask if China will extradite him. They encourage it. There's even a policy behind it.

[@vladeboranova]

‘Apple is an American company.’ ‘Apple is a Chinese company.’ Both statements are true

[@CoolNumber1]

They both work together. That why American have no right to complain.

[@moisesojeda1085]

@@CoolNumber1 Chinese assemble their parts, easy work. USA designed apple from the ground up

[@frankd9945]

You can say the same for Tesla

[@indiandaeng]

Create US products in America.

[@Rickets1911]

Having devices manufactured in China doesn’t make it a Chinese company. SAMSUNG is Chinese. Cheap five volt electronic gadgets are manufactured in China nine times out of ten. The US built and tooled their early factories in China btw. .. certain things are produced best in certain places. That’s just how the world works

[@weisserth]

Congress and US government should take action and coordinate with the European Union and the UK and bar that Chinese company from entering the US, European and UK market with any products associated with the IP theft unless the Chinese company comes forward and takes accountability and the thief has been taken to a US court.

[@stefanfrankel8157]

Right after the Indian government takes responsibility for the idiots in New Delhi that keep calling me trying to scam me.

[@farzana6676]

That company will simply close and startup under a new name. This is state sanctioned economic espionage I'm sure.

[@gijohns7860]

Stop the xenophobic nonsense

[@farzana6676]

@@gijohns7860 Hahaha so according to you, we should allow Chinese CCP communist sponsored technology spying?

[@weisserth]

@@gijohns7860 As someone who is married to a person originating from China, I find your comment funny. Irrelevant. And funny. Thank you for coming out.

[@Julianamado1]

So you guys pretty much alerted him and gave him a chance to leave ?

[@VC-id1ho]

it's only bad when the Chinese do it, yet american tech companies do it all the time.

[@Raptorman0909]

Why was he not locked up IMMEDIATELY?

[@kaycampbell364]

he's not black

[@sct4040]

Because it’s not espionage. It’s Apple, a company not related to the US government.

[@thesoulbrother8636]

@@kaycampbell364 LOL!!!😂😂 💯 percent facts! Well said my friend.

[@Star-du6yz]

USA think he will give himself up jajajajaja

[@kmo20794]

Where are the "China is so ahead of Silicon Valley!" comments? If they are so far ahead, why would they need to steal source code?

[@turingcs2001]

As Chinese American I feel ashamed by this man.

[@bobbymoss6160]

He completed his mission and will be rewarded handsomely by the Chinese government.

[@adrianosousamendes2948]

Japan closed the factories in China because of the same problem... They learned the lesson. In America we still think in terms of diversity and not quality...

[@emmewilliams7691]

This makes no sense. Silicon Valley isn’t diverse. That man probably had a job that they could not find an American to do. If anything, the US suffers due to lack of diverse hiring in tech and little investment in training the next generation of tech workers regardless of race. This situation is a problem of their own making.

[@spenserkao]

Where is this bloke's work ethic?

[@RowdyLpx]

Hilarious. Incomprehensible incompetence on behalf of Apple.

[@ElPePe10300]

Keeping the stereotype alive…

[@cocofluff]

There's truth to all stereotypes.

[@jameswatson5807]

@@cocofluff so far right whites are really racist then 😁.

[@anniehuckerby9281]

I can't believe he didn't have police watching him after search warrant especially that he was a flight risk

[@theotang681]

this is proof that we all should ditch chinese made tech which includes smart phones, drones and even fridges!!!!

[@RichardBrett899]

I have yet to see an autonomous vehicle anywhere in the US.