Huawei under U.S. criminal investigation for alleged theft of trade secrets from T-Mobile, other tech companies
China's Huawei is the subject of a U.S. criminal investigation in which federal prosecutors say the Chinese tech company stole trade secrets from U.S. business partners including technology behind a robotic device T-Mobile used to test smartphones, called "Tappy."
The Wall Street Journal reports that the investigation stemmed from various civil lawsuits against Huawei, including the one involving T-Mobile's Tappy.
In Seattle, a jury agreed that Huawei was liable for misappropriation of the robotic technology T-Mobile developed in its Bellevue, Washington, labs.
Here's a video that shows "Tappy" in action.
The federal criminal probe into Huawei is at an advanced stage and could lead to an indictment soon, the WSJ reports.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
A Huawei spokesman declined to comment. The company contested the T-Mobile case, but conceded that two employees acted improperly.
Here's an alternate link for the article.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced bills on Wednesday that would ban the sale of U.S. chips or other components to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ZTE Corp or other Chinese telecommunications companies that violate U.S. sanctions or export control laws.