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Chinese Startup Denies It Received Stolen Data on Apple Car

A Chinese electric-car startup company denies it has been given trade secrets by a former Apple Inc. engineer it hired three months ago.
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A Chinese electric-car startup company denies it has been given trade secrets by a former Apple Inc. engineer it hired three months ago.

U.S. authorities have arrested Xiaolang Zhang, who resigned from Apple’s secretive self-driving car project early this year, on charges of stealing confidential files from his employer before returning to China and joining Xpeng Motors (Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co.)

Zhang admits he downloaded the files to his wife’s laptop. But Xpeng Motors insists he didn’t share “sensitive information” from Apple. Nevertheless, the startup says it has fired Zhang after conducting its own internal investigation.

Xpeng operates offices in Guangzhou and Silicon Valley. The company said yesterday it strictly abides by intellectual property laws in China and the U.S.

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