FBI ‘ran sting against Huawei in new technology theft case’
- Bloomberg Businessweek said the operation involved Akhan Semiconductor, a US start-up with new glass for smartphone screens
- Investigators were said to have asked an Akhan executive to record a conversation with Huawei officials at last month’s electronics trade show in Las Vegas
US federal investigators carried out a sting against Huawei Technologies last month over suspicions that China’s largest smartphone maker was stealing glass technology from an American start-up, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Monday, adding yet another layer to the already complicated espionage case against the company.
Akhan Semiconductor, an Illinois-based tech start-up, discovered that when its product – the diamond glass – was sent back by a San Diego laboratory owned by Huawei, it was severely damaged. The technology – Minaj Diamond Glass – covers the glass with a micro-layer of synthetic diamond and is believed to be six times harder than current smartphone screens.
Suspecting Huawei, which ordered the sample in 2017, of intellectual property theft, company founder Adam Khan reported it to the FBI. Investigators enlisted Khan and the company’s chief operating officer, Carl Shurboff, in a sting at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas in January.
The investigation has not yet resulted in an indictment.