# Chinese spying cases at US companies, up close

28 cases since 2015 name a US company. These five experiments each look at one case or one finding. Updated November 10, 2026; 17 sources cited. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases

## [Guess the sentence](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/guess-the-sentence)

Eight Chinese spying cases at US companies. Guess the prison sentence for each, from 120 days to 20 years, then see what the court did.

## [The one-way ticket](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/one-way-ticket)

Monsanto and Apple trade secret cases that came down to an airport: one searched at the gate, one arrested, one alleged to have flown out that night.

## [The car that got taken three times](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/apple-car)

Apple’s self-driving car project appears in three Chinese spying cases: circuit boards, project files and source code. One guilty plea, two unproven.

## [What is inside a can](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/inside-a-can)

The BPA-free can coating formulas taken from Coca-Cola and Eastman cost nearly $120M to develop. The chemist who took them got 14 years.

## [600 million records, no verdict](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/records)

The Marriott, Equifax and Anthem breaches took about 607 million records. One has no charges, two have unproven charges, and none has a verdict.

Only cases that name the company are counted; many never do. “Charged” cases are unproven allegations and defendants are presumed innocent. Compiled by Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai).