FirstFT: US accuses ex-engineer of stealing Apple’s trade secrets

Good morning. The US Department of Justice has charged a Chinese citizen with stealing trade secrets from Apple, including information about driverless car technology.

Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, has been accused of taking thousands of documents including research and development. The case is one of five lawsuits brought by a new task force focused on protecting critical technology from foreign governments.

The DoJ alleged that while the engineer was working on a secret project for Apple, he also started working for a US-based subsidiary of a company headquartered in China, which it said was developing self-driving cars.

Law enforcement officers found large volumes of data that had been taken from Apple when they searched his California residence in 2018. He flew to Guangzhou, China, that night despite telling agents he did not plan to travel, prosecutors said.

If found guilty, Wang faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the six counts filed against him, as well as fines. Apple declined to comment, and Wang could not be reached for comment.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Japan GDP: Preliminary first-quarter gross domestic product figures are set to be released.

• Liz Truss in Taiwan: The former UK prime minister Liz Truss, a vocal critic of China, will speak at an event organised by the Prospect Foundation.

• FTX: The company’s US-based leadership team is due to appear in court.

Five more top stories

1. China’s industrial output and consumer spending have fallen short of expectations, fuelling doubts over the strength of the country’s rebound after it dismantled its zero-Covid policy. Youth unemployment hit a record while a key measure of investment also lagged estimates, casting a shadow over the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.

2. Russia exported more oil in April than in any month since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, with almost 80 per cent of crude shipments flowing to China and India, according to the International Energy Agency. The EU is now discussing its 11th sanctions package on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine last year.

• Related read: The EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels, including diesel, into Europe, the bloc’s chief diplomat said.

3. Ford plans to scale back future investments in China, as the US carmaker’s chief executive warned there was “no guarantee” western carmakers could win against local electric-vehicle rivals.

4. Leaders at some of the biggest US companies have urged Washington to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling. Read the open letter in which executives from more than 140 companies, including Goldman Sachs, Pfizer and KKR warned against a “potentially devastating scenario”.

5. Russia appears to have targeted one of two US Patriot anti-missile defence systems recently obtained by Ukraine during an unprecedented barrage of projectiles against Kyiv yesterday. While Washington was trying to assess the impact, the system’s radars were still working and able to track incoming missiles and intercept them, a US official said.

News in-depth

For Harvard-educated Pita Limjaroenrat, the victory of his progressive Move Forward party represents potential watershed moment in Thailand. The 42-year-old stands to oust Thailand’s military-backed government, but ascending to prime minister hinges on Pita’s ability to persuade more established opposition groups to co-operate in a coalition — despite Move Forward’s radical reform agenda.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

• Markets 101: On the final episode of Behind the Money Night School we’re talking markets: from stocks to bonds to commodities with the FT’s Katie Martin and Ethan Wu.

• Digital native: There’s no such thing as a digital native — and there never will be. Stephen Bush explains why.

• Tax havens: Many tax havens are rather strange places to live full-time. Putting aside the ethics of decamping to more tax-efficient climes, Rhymer Rigby considers whether living in one is worth it.

Graphic of the day

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defied expectations in Sunday’s presidential election, confounding pollsters by holding together a coalition of Turkish voters that first brought him to power two decades ago. Explore how Erdoğan beat the odds in charts.

Take a break from the news

Japanese whisky is made in a manner very similar to Scotch; the malted barley is imported from overseas. So what makes a whisky characteristically “Japanese”? Yamazaki’s chief blender explains, as Japan’s oldest whisky distillery celebrates its 100th year.

Additional contributions by Emily Goldberg