
US prosecutors allege Huawei officials sought technical details of T-Mobile's proprietary smartphone-testing robot 'Tappy' during the ongoing criminal trial of Huawei Technologies on racketeering charges, presenting emails showing interest from US and China-based employees.
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Huawei Technologies faces racketeering charges in a US criminal trial, with prosecutors alleging the company engaged in a scheme to steal trade secrets from American firms including T-Mobile.
US prosecutors claim Chinese tech giant officials were intent on finding out about technical specifications of the robot, dubbed Tappy
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Mark Magnierin New York
Published: 6:03am, 17 Sep 2026
The criminal trial of Huawei Technologies on racketeering charges shifted this week into a slower, more laborious pace in what is expected to be a weeks-long trial as the US Government sought to establish on Wednesday that Huawei was intent on learning about a proprietary robot developed by US telecommunications carrier T-Mobile.
Matthew Skurnik, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, spent hours running FBI Special Agent James Diclemis through a series of emails that appeared to show keen interest by US and China-based Huawei officials in the technical specifications of the robot, dubbed Tappy.
Developed in 2006 at the company’s State of Washington engineering lab, Tappy was used to automate quality-assurance testing on smartphones before they were approved for sale.
The main advantage of the then-innovative technology was that its mechanical robotic arm and rubberised tip allowed it to replicate a human’s tapping, swiping and typing on smartphone touchscreens.
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The trial will continue for several more weeks as prosecutors present additional evidence
Likely · Within weeks

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