FBI says Apple employee tried to steal self-driving car tech for China

Few people outside of Apple really know what the end goal of its top secret “Project Titan” car development project is. 

Is Apple building a Tesla killer? Just further developing CarPlay? Experimenting with autonomous driving technologies and sensors? One thing we do know: Chinese auto companies really want to steal any information from Project Titan.

According to NBC News Bay Area, the FBI arrested a Chinese national accused of stealing Project Titan trade secrets. Jizhong Chen was arrested prior to flying to China after another Apple employee caught him photographing Apple-classified information.

A search through Chen’s computer by Apple’s Global Security team revealed “thousands of files containing Apple’s intellectual property, including manuals, schematics, and diagrams.”

Chen reportedly applied for a job at a Chinese autonomous vehicle company that could’ve benefit from the intellectual property he stole. Chen is also accused of stealing an “assembly drawing of an Apple-designed wiring harness for an autonomous vehicle.” 

A recent Apple patent describes what’s essentially a redesigned seatbelt that uses gestures to control vehicle input such as CarPlay functionality. 

Here’s the abstract from the patent describing the design:

An augmented safety restraint system includes a first restraint operable to secure a first passenger. The first restraint has an exposed surface facing away from a body of the first passenger. A gesture-sensing device is disposed on the exposed surface of the first restraint and is operable to receive an input from the first passenger.

Chen isn’t the first Chinese national to attempt stealing secret information from Project Titan. Back in July, ex-Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang also tried to steal Titan intellectual property to reportedly hand over to China’s Xiaopeng Motors. Similar to Chen, Zhang was accused of downloading “engineering schematics and technical reports.”

Project Titan was first made unofficially public in 2014. But the autonomous vehicle development project has been restructured multiple times in the last few years.

Most recently, Apple laid off 200 employees from Project Titan to refocus development efforts on “several key areas” according to an Apple spokesperson. Still, whatever Apple’s working on within Titan is far from dead.

In 2016, Apple brought former SVP of Technologies, Bob Mansfield, back from retirement to lead Project Titan. Prior to leaving Apple, Mansfield had a hand in developing key iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch devices.

Then, in August 2018, Apple re-recruited its own former employee, Doug Field, who left to become Tesla’s vice president of engineering, in efforts to get Titan back on track.

It’s unclear when the public will see any of the fruits of Project Titan. Though, the project seems to make headlines every few months or so, it’s entirely possible nothing will come of the self-driving development. Like many companies, Apple does research and development on a wide range of technologies. Development doesn’t necessarily mean a product is on its way. It’s all speculation until an Apple executive gets up on a stage and makes an announcement.

Nonetheless, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote back in August he believes Apple could launch its own self-driving car around 2023. Much could have changed since then and much could still change by then (it’s only 2019) so take the information with a grain of salt, even if Kuo is eerily accurate with his iPhone predictions.

Chen’s arrest is unlikely to be the last. As China moves to aggressively to build homegrown electric vehicles, it’s more likely it’ll find ways to engage in stealing trade secrets from not just Apple, but other companies such as Tesla, which already has a lead in vehicle electrification.