Google engineer convicted of stealing AI trade secrets for Chinese interests in landmark case

Former Google engineer convicted of stealing GPU and TPU trade secrets for 'Chinese interests' -- tried to raise funding for his own start-up

Linwei Ding faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of economic espionage. A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted a former Google engineer of stealing confidential AI infrastructure data and transferring it to benefit Chinese interests, closing one of the highest-profile trade secret cases to date involving AI systems. The defendant, Linwei Ding, was found guilty on 14 counts, including economic espionage and theft of trade secrets, following a trial concerning his conduct while employed at Google between May 2022 and April 2023. According to prosecutors, Ding copied internal technical documents while also pursuing roles and venture funding connected to Chinese companies and his own start-up, Rongshu. The U.S. Department of Justice, through a superseding indictment, says that the stolen material covered seven categories of trade secrets that together describe how Google designs, builds, and operates its AI data centers. That material included low-level specs for its TPUs, internal TPU instruction sets, and performance characteristics tied to HBM access and inter-chip connects. In addition, Ding is understood to have stolen documents describing TPU system architectures and the software stack used to schedule and manage work across clusters. Beyond Google's TPU accelerators, stolen material included materials related to Google's GPU machines and GPU cluster orchestration, focusing on how the company configures and operates multi-GPU systems at scale, and proprietary SmartNIC hardware and software used for high-bandwidth, low-latency networking inside the company's AI clusters. This is an obviously contentious area that Google will be keen to safeguard as models grow larger. In a statement following the guilty verdict, John A. Eisenberg, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said, "This conviction exposes a calculated breach of trust involving some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development." Trial exhibits show that Ding copied data from Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook before converting those notes into PDF files and uploading thousands of them into personal file storage over a period of around 11 months. This method helped Ding evade detection by Google. Ding, who began working for Google in 2019 and was involved in developing GPU software, faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison for each of the seven counts of economic espionage, along with additional penalties for the seven counts of theft of trade secrets. While sentencing is yet to take place, the Justice Department is already celebrating the verdict as a first and major win tied directly to AI-related economic espionage, showing just how seriously U.S. authorities are now treating AI and adjacent technologies as critical to economic and national security.

Ex-Google engineer convicted of stealing AI secrets

Network access from China and side hustle as AI upstart CEO aroused suspicion A former Google software engineer has been convicted of stealing AI hardware secrets from the company for the benefit of two China-based firms, one of which he founded. The second startup intended to use these secrets to market its technology to PRC-controlled organizations. On Thursday, Linwei ("Leon") Ding, 38, was convicted on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of trade secret theft for stealing confidential information related to Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and SmartNIC network interface cards. "We're grateful to the jury for making sure justice was served today, sending a clear message that stealing trade secrets has serious consequences," said Lee-Anne Mulholland, VP of regulatory affairs at Google, in a statement provided to The Register. According to the second superseding indictment [PDF] filed in September 2025, Ding began working for Google on May 13, 2019. He was responsible for developing software that helps GPUs function more efficiently for machine learning applications at Google and Google Cloud. In that role, he had access to information Google deemed confidential. Google employs various physical and network security measures, including security guards, cameras at building entrances, badge-based building access restrictions, guest registration and accompaniment requirements, network data loss prevention monitoring, device identification and authentication, and network activity logging. The company checks physical and network access activity using both automated tools and human review to flag discrepancies like network access via an IP address that doesn't match the location of the employee's access badge. These measures later helped reconstruct Ding's activities for investigators, but did not prevent or immediately detect his initial data theft. Google's spokesperson did not respond when asked whether the company has revised its security procedures and policies in the wake of this incident. Around May 21, 2022, Ding began uploading more than 1,000 files containing trade secrets to his personal Google Cloud account. "Ding exfiltrated these files by copying data from the Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook laptop," the indictment states. "Ding then converted the Apple Notes into PDF files and uploaded them from the Google network into [his personal Google Cloud account]. This method helped Ding evade immediate detection by Google." The following month, June 2022, Ding received a series of email messages from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co., Ltd. ("Rongshu"), a technology startup in China focused on machine learning acceleration. The messages included a job offer as CTO for 100,000 RMB per month, which was worth about $14,800 or $177,600 annually at the time, plus an annual bonus and company stock. Ding traveled to China on October 29, 2022, staying there until March 25, 2023, during which time he participated in investor meetings to raise money for Rongshu. By May 30, 2023, according to the indictment, he founded Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co. Ltd. ("Zhisuan") and took the role of CEO. The company aimed to develop a Cluster Management System for accelerating machine learning workloads. Ding applied to get Zhisuan into a China-based business incubation program called MiraclePlus. The company was accepted in November 2023 and Ding then traveled to Beijing to pitch investors. A document he distributed around that time in a Zhisuan WeChat group noted, "we have experience with Google's ten-thousand-card computational power platform; we just need to replicate and upgrade it - and then further develop a computational power platform suited to China's national conditions." An internal Zhisuan memo referenced in the indictment indicates that the company expected to market its technology to PRC-controlled entities, including government agencies and academic institutions. Google became aware of Ding's activities when he uploaded further files to a second personal Google Drive account while he was in China. On December 8, 2023, Ding offered reassurance to a Google investigator about his use of a personal account and signed a Self-Deletion Affidavit stating that he hasn't retained any Google information - while not disclosing his prior use of a personal account to upload Google files. On December 14, 2023, Ding booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing, scheduled to depart January 7, 2024. On December 26, 2023, he emailed his manager to resign from Google. Three days later, Google found out that Ding had presented at the MiraclePlus conference as the CEO of Zhisuan. Company investigators then suspended Ding's network access, remotely locked his Google laptop, and began reviewing various security records. They found surveillance footage that showed another employee scanning Ding's building access badge earlier that month to make it seem as if Ding was in the US during dates he was in China. On January 4, 2024, Google security personnel took Ding's Google laptop and mobile device. Two days later, FBI investigators executed a search warrant. A grand jury indictment [PDF] was returned on March 5, 2024. The court filings do not say whether the stolen trade secrets remain in the hands of PRC-affiliated individuals or companies. Google's spokesperson did not respond to a request to elaborate on the status of its proprietary information. Ding's defense attorney filed a motion [PDF] to have the case dismissed, arguing that the government failed to allege that Ding ever handed the stolen secrets over to a foreign government entity; that he intended or knew his actions would benefit the PRC; or that the espionage was backed by the PRC. Judge Chhabria subsequently rejected the defense motion, finding that the allegations and evidence were sufficient for a trial. He did however express skepticism of the government's theories that Ding's actions qualify as economic espionage under 18 U.S. Code § 1831 if they benefit China as a country, as opposed to the government of China. According to the US Justice Department, trial evidence "showed that Ding intended to benefit two entities controlled by the government of China by assisting with the development of an AI supercomputer and collaborating on the research and development of custom machine learning chips." The jury found the government's case convincing and voted unanimously to convict on all fourteen counts. Ding faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of trade secret theft and 15 years in prison for each count of economic espionage, subject to US Sentencing Guidelines and federal sentencing rules. ®

U.S. convicts ex-Google engineer for sending AI tech data to China

A U.S. federal jury has convicted Linwei Ding, a former software engineer at Google, for stealing AI supercomputer data from his employer and secretly sharing it with Chinese tech firms. Ding was originally indicted in March 2024 after he lied and didn't sincerely cooperate with Google's internal investigation, leading to his arrest in California. According to the prosecutors, between May 2022 and April 2023, Ding stole over 2,000 pages of confidential AI-related materials from Google and uploaded them to his personal Google Cloud account. The stolen files contained key information about Google's AI super-computing infrastructure, proprietary TPU and GPU system technologies, orchestration software for large-scale AI workloads, and SmartNIC networking technology. Ding, who started at Google in 2019, was also secretly affiliated with two China-based technology companies and even negotiated a role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at one of them. Later, he founded his own AI company in China (Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co.), serving as its CEO, and told potential investors he could build AI supercomputing infrastructure similar to Google's. Evidence showed that Ding sought to aid entities linked to the People's Republic of China, applied to a Shanghai government-sponsored talent program, and stated his goal was to help China reach international-level computing infrastructure capabilities. "The jury heard evidence pertaining to the PRC government's establishment of talent plans to encourage individuals to come to China to contribute to the PRC's economic and technological growth," mentions the U.S. DoJ announcement. "Ding's application for this talent plan stated that he planned to 'help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level.'" "The evidence at trial also showed that Ding intended to benefit two entities controlled by the government of China by assisting with the development of an AI supercomputer and collaborating on the research and development of custom machine learning chips." Ding never informed Google about his affiliations with the mentioned firms or disclosed his travels to China, even asking a colleague to periodically scan his entrance badge at his workplace to make it appear as if he was still in the U.S., working. Following an 11-day trial in San Francisco, Ding was convicted on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of trade secret theft, each carrying a maximum imprisonment sentence of 10-15 years. However, no sentences have been announced yet.

Ex-Google Engineer Convicted for Stealing 2,000 AI Trade Secrets for China Startup

A former Google engineer accused of stealing thousands of the company's confidential documents to build a startup in China has been convicted in the U.S., the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced Thursday. Linwei Ding (aka Leon Ding), 38, was convicted by a federal jury on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for taking over 2,000 documents containing the tech giant's trade secrets related to artificial intelligence (AI) technology for the benefit of the People's Republic of China (PRC). "Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security," said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian. "We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk." Ding was indicted in March 2024 for transferring sensitive proprietary information from Google's network to his personal Google Cloud account. The stolen documents included details about the company's supercomputing data center infrastructure used for running AI models, the Cluster Management System (CMS) software for managing the data centers, and the AI models and applications they supported. Specifically, the trade secrets pertained to - The theft took place between May 2022 and April 2023. Ding, who joined Google in 2019, is said to have affiliated himself with two tech companies based in China, including a startup named Shanghai Zhisuan Technologies Co., which he founded in 2023, while he was employed by the firm. Ding downloaded the documents to his computer in December 2023, less than two weeks before resigning from Google. "Around June 2022, Ding was in discussions to be the Chief Technology Officer for an early-stage technology company based in the PRC; by early 2023, Ding was in the process of founding his own technology company in the PRC focused on AI and machine learning and was acting as the company's CEO," the DoJ said. The 2024 incident also alleged that the defendant took a number of deceitful steps to cover up the theft of trade secrets, including copying the data from Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his company-provided MacBook and then converting the notes to PDF files before uploading them to his Google account. Furthermore, prosecutors accused Ding of asking another Google employee to use his company-issued access badge to scan into the entrance of a Google building, and give the impression that he was working from the office when, in fact, he was in China. The scheme unravelled in late 2023 when Google learned that he had given a public presentation in China to potential investors about his startup. In February 2025, Ding was charged with economic espionage, with the superseding indictment also claiming he applied to a Shanghai-based "talent" sponsored by Beijing. The indictment also called out these talent programs for encouraging individuals engaged in research and development outside the country to come to China to contribute to the nation's economic and technological growth. "Ding's application for this talent plan stated that he planned to 'help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level,'" the DoJ said. "The evidence at trial also showed that Ding intended to benefit two entities controlled by the government of China by assisting with the development of an AI supercomputer and collaborating on the research and development of custom machine learning chips." Ding is scheduled to appear at a status conference on February 3, 2026. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and 15 years in prison for each economic espionage count.

Former Google engineer found guilty of espionage and theft of AI tech

The case marks the first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice. A federal jury in San Francisco on Thursday convicted a former Google software engineer of stealing trade secrets related to the search company's AI technology. The jury found 38 year-old Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, guilty on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets related to stealing thousands of pages of confidential information from Google to benefit the People's Republic of China, according to court documents. "In today's high-stakes race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the U.S. and his employer by stealing trade secrets about Google's AI technology on behalf of China's government," said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, in a statement Friday. "Today's verdict affirms that federal law will be enforced to protect our nation's most valuable technologies and hold those who steal them accountable." The case marks the first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice. Google executives and U.S. leaders have been vocal about the AI arms race, particularly between the U.S. and China. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis recently told CNBC that Chinese AI models might be "a matter of months" behind U.S. and Western capabilities. The jury's decision comes after Ding was originally indicted in 2024. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria for the Northern District of California oversaw the 11-day trial that led to Thursday's decision. Between May 2022 and April 2023, Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of Google's AI trade secretes and uploaded them to his personal Google Cloud account, the DOJ said Friday. At the time, Ding had been affiliated with two tech companies based in China and was in the process of creating his own tech company. The trade secrets contained detailed information about the architecture of Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit chips and the company's graphics processing unit systems, according to the DOJ. The trade secrets also included details about Google's custom-built SmartNIC, a specialized network interface card that enables high-speed communication across its AI supercomputers and cloud networking systems. Ding's attorney Grant Fondo reportedly argued that Google didn't do enough to protect the information. He argued that the documents in question were available to thousands of employees and therefore could not have contained trade secrets, adding "Google chose openness over security," according to Courthouse News Service. Ding, whose next court date is Tuesday, faces a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and 15 years in prison for each count of economic espionage, according to the DOJ.

Ex-Google engineer found guilty of stealing AI secrets for China

State of play A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets, per an FBI post on X Monday. * Ding was accused of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information containing Google's trade secrets related to artificial intelligence technology and sharing them with two Chinese tech firms. * He was originally indicted in March 2024 before a superseding indictment was returned last year on the charges Ding was convicted of. * The jury found him guilty of stealing more than two thousand pages of confidential information containing Google's AI trade secrets from Google's network and uploading them to his personal Google Cloud account while working for the company from May 2022 and April 2023. * Prosecutors accused him of being in talks for a chief technology officer role at a Chinese AI startup within weeks of the beginning of the thefts. Thought bubble, via Axios' Sam Sabin: We can expect to see similar cases as the competition heats up between the U.S. and China to dominate AI -- just like what happened previously with semiconductor developers. What they're saying: "Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security," said U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian in a statement.

Former Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI Secrets for China - Decrypt

Ding built his own AI startup in China, pitched investors on replicating Google's tech, and applied to a Shanghai government talent program. A 38-year-old former Google software engineer has been convicted of siphoning thousands of pages of the company's most sensitive AI technology to benefit China, in one of the most serious tech espionage cases prosecuted by the Justice Department. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was found guilty on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets following an 11-day trial in San Francisco federal court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement on Thursday. In March 2024, federal agents arrested Ding at his Newark home, with then-U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey alleging he stole 500+ confidential AI files while secretly working with China-based companies to gain a competitive edge. Ding now faces up to 15 years in prison for each economic espionage count and 10 years for each theft count, with a status conference scheduled for February 3. The trial revealed how Ding systematically plundered Google's AI crown jewels over nearly a year. Between May 2022 and April 2023, while working as a Google software engineer with access to the company's most confidential systems, he copied more than 2,000 pages of proprietary information to his personal Google Cloud account. The trade secrets included detailed specifications for Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit chips, Graphics Processing Unit systems, and the sophisticated software that orchestrates thousands of chips into supercomputers capable of training cutting-edge AI models. While stealing Google's AI secrets, Ding was also building his own China-based AI venture, discussing a CTO role with a Chinese startup in mid-2022 before founding and leading his own AI company as CEO by early 2023. In investor pitches, Ding claimed he could replicate Google's technology, promoted China's state-backed AI priorities, and applied to a Shanghai government talent program in late 2023, pledging to help China reach "international-level" computing infrastructure. "The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished," U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in the statement. The conviction comes as Chinese exploitation of American AI technology has become a major concern for U.S. officials. "AI models are already geopolitically sensitive as we are deep into the AI arms race, and the nation that leads this race will gain an advantage similar to those won by the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the nuclear arms race," Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer at Komodo Platform, told Decrypt. "AI espionage is already running rampant, because there is so much at stake with this technology," he added, urging AI startup founders to thoroughly vet engineers through comprehensive background checks. In November, congressional investigators summoned Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to explain how Chinese state actors used the company's Claude Code tool to launch what Anthropic described as the first large-scale cyber operation largely automated by AI. Last month, major U.S. tech companies formed the Agentic AI Foundation under the Linux Foundation, partly in response to China overtaking the U.S. in open-source AI downloads.

Former Google engineer found guilty of stealing AI secrets for Chinese firms

Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006. A former Google engineer has been found guilty on multiple federal charges for stealing the tech giant's trade secrets on artificial intelligence to benefit Chinese companies he secretly worked for, federal prosecutors said. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, a jury on Thursday convicted Linwei Ding on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets, following an 11-day trial. The 38-year-old, also known as Leon Ding, was hired by Google in 2019 and was a resident of Newark. "Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security. The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished," U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement. According to evidence presented at trial, Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential information containing Google AI trade secrets between May 2022 and April 2023. He uploaded the information to his personal Google Cloud account. Around the same time, Ding secretly affiliated himself with two Chinese-based technology companies. Around June 2022, prosecutors said Ding was in discussions to be the chief technology officer for an early-stage tech company. Several months later, he was in the process of founding his own AI and machine learning company in China, acting as the company's CEO. Prosecutors said Ding told investors that he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google's technology. In late 2023, prosecutors said Ding downloaded the trade secrets to his own personal computer before resigning from Google. According to the superseding indictment, Google uncovered the uploads after finding out that Ding presented himself as CEO of one of the companies during an Beijing investor conference. Around the same time, Ding told his manager he was leaving the company and booked a one-way flight to Beijing. In early Jan. 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at his home and Ding was arrested two months later. "The theft and misuse of advanced artificial intelligence technology for the benefit of the People's Republic of China threatens our technological edge and economic competitiveness," FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said. "Today's verdict affirms that federal law will be enforced to protect our nation's most valuable technologies and hold those who steal them accountable." Prosecutors said Ding is scheduled to appear at a status conference on Feb. 3. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and 15 years for each count of economic espionage.

Former Google engineer convicted of selling AI trade secrets

A former Google engineer was convicted Thursday of stealing AI-related trade secrets from the tech giant for Chinese companies, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of California. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was found guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of thefts of trade secrets, after stealing more than 2,000 pages of confidential information from Google. While he was working at Google, Ding was also affiliated with two Chinese companies, the U.S. attorney's office said. He was in discussions to become chief technology officer of one and was in the process of founding another where he was serving as acting CEO. The 38-year-old downloaded the tranche of documents -- featuring information about Google's chips and the software used to connect them into a supercomputer -- to his personal computer less than two weeks before he resigned. He told potential investors that he could build an AI supercomputer using Google's technology. "Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security," U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement. "The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished," he continued. "We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk."

Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI Secrets for Chinese Companies

WILMINGTON, Delaware, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco on Thursday of stealing AI trade secrets from the U.S. tech giant to benefit two Chinese companies he was secretly working for, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday. Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was ⁠found guilty after an 11-day trial of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information. Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum 15-year prison term and $5 million fine, while each trade secrets charge carries a maximum 10-year term and $250,000 fine. Ding is scheduled to appear at ⁠a status conference on February 3, according to the DOJ. An attorney for Ding, also known as Leon Ding, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ding was originally indicted in March 2024 on four counts of theft of trade secrets. A superseding indictment in February expanded the charges. Ding's case was coordinated through an interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force, created in 2023 by the Biden administration. Prosecutors said Ding stole information about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that lets Google's supercomputing data centers train large AI models. Some of the allegedly stolen chip blueprints were meant to give Google, owned by Alphabet, an edge over cloud computing rivals Amazon.com and Microsoft, which design their own, and reduce Google's reliance on chips from Nvidia. Prosecutors said Ding joined Google in May 2019 and began his thefts three years later, when he was being courted to join an early-stage Chinese technology company. Google was not charged and has said it cooperated with law enforcement. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; additional reporting by Courtney Rozen; editing by Diane Craft)

Former Google engineer convicted in AI espionage case - The Economic Times

A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted a former Google software engineer of stealing sensitive artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China, marking the first-ever conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, US officials said.A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted a former Google software engineer of stealing sensitive artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China, marking the first-ever conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, US officials said. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, was found guilty on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets after an 11-day trial before US District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California. Prosecutors said Ding stole thousands of pages of confidential AI-related information from Google while secretly pursuing China-linked technology ventures. "This conviction exposes a calculated breach of trust involving some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "Ding abused his privileged access to steal AI trade secrets while pursuing PRC government-aligned ventures." According to evidence at trial, Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential information from Google's internal systems between May 2022 and April 2023. Prosecutors said he uploaded the material to his personal Google Cloud account and later downloaded it to his personal computer shortly before resigning from the company. While still employed at Google, Ding secretly aligned himself with two China-based technology companies, officials said. In mid-2022, he discussed becoming chief technology officer of an early-stage firm in China. By early 2023, he had founded his own artificial intelligence and machine learning company in China and was serving as its chief executive officer. In investor presentations, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google's technology. The jury found that the stolen trade secrets related to hardware and software that allow Google's data centers to train and operate large AI models. The material included detailed information about Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit chips, graphics processing unit systems, and the software that enables the chips to communicate and work together. It also covered software used to orchestrate thousands of chips into AI supercomputers and details of Google's SmartNIC technology used for high-speed networking. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Ding sought support from the Chinese government. In late 2023, he applied for a Shanghai-based government-sponsored talent program, stating that he planned to "help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level." FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said the verdict underscored the government's commitment to protecting innovation. Ding was first indicted in March 2024. He is scheduled to appear next at a status conference on February 3, 2026, and faces up to 10 years in prison on each theft count and up to 15 years on each espionage count.

Ex-Google Engineer Faces Decades In Prison After Jury Finds He Stole AI Secrets For China - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

A federal jury in San Francisco convicted a former Alphabet Inc.-owned (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google software engineer this week for stealing sensitive artificial intelligence trade secrets. Jury Delivers Landmark AI Espionage Verdict Jurors found Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets on Thursday, according to court records. Ding, 38, was accused of stealing confidential AI-related information from Google to benefit the People's Republic of China. The case marks the first U.S. conviction tied specifically to AI economic espionage, the Department of Justice said. Thousands Of Pages Of Google AI Secrets Stolen Prosecutors said Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of internal Google documents between May 2022 and April 2023, uploading them to his personal cloud account. At the time, Ding was affiliated with two China-based technology companies and was working to launch his own firm. The stolen material included detailed information about Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit chips, GPU-based AI systems, and SmartNIC networking technology, which enables high-speed communication across AI supercomputers and cloud infrastructure. FBI Warns Of High-Stakes AI Arms Race "In today's high-stakes race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the U.S. and his employer," said Roman Rozhavsky, an assistant director at the FBI, calling the verdict a warning to those who steal critical technologies. The trial was overseen by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria and lasted 11 days. Ding was initially indicted in 2024. Defense Rejected, Sentencing Ahead Ding's attorney argued Google failed to adequately protect the information, claiming it was widely accessible internally, according to Courthouse News Service. Ding faces up to 10 years in prison per trade secret count and 15 years per economic espionage count. His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday. Google said the verdict reinforces the serious consequences of trade secret theft. Price Action: Alphabet Class A shares declined 0.13% on Friday while Class C shares were down by 0.11%, according to Benzinga Pro. GOOG stock earns a strong Quality rating in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, supported by a positive price trend across short, medium, and long-term time frames. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Ex-Google engineer convicted of stealing AI secrets for Chinese companies - The Economic Times

Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was found guilty after an 11-day trial of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information.Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco on Thursday of stealing AI trade ⁠secrets from the U.S. tech giant to benefit two Chinese companies he was secretly working for, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday. Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was found guilty after an 11-day trial of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information. Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum 15-year prison term and $5 million fine, while each trade secrets charge carries a maximum 10-year term and $250,000 fine. Ding is scheduled to appear at a status conference on February 3, according to the DOJ. An attorney for Ding, also known as Leon Ding, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ding was originally indicted in March 2024 on four counts of theft of trade secrets. A superseding indictment in February expanded the charges. Ding's case was coordinated through an interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force, created in 2023 by the Biden administration. Prosecutors said Ding stole information about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that lets Google's supercomputing data centers train large AI models. Some of the allegedly stolen chip blueprints were meant to give Google, owned by Alphabet, an edge over cloud computing ⁠rivals Amazon.com and ⁠Microsoft, which design their own, and reduce Google's reliance on chips from Nvidia. Prosecutors said Ding joined Google in May 2019 and began his thefts three years later, when he was being courted to join an early-stage Chinese technology company. Google was not charged and has said it cooperated with law enforcement. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former Google software engineer convicted of AI espionage, trade...

A federal jury in San Francisco found a former Google software engineer guilty of espionage and theft of trade secrets in the first-ever espionage conviction related to AI. Following an 11-day trial, the jury on Thursday found Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, guilty on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets - including thousands of pages of Google trade secrets that were stolen to help China. "In today's high-stakes race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the US and his employer by stealing trade secrets about Google's AI technology on behalf of China's government," Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's espionage unit, said in a Friday statement. US tech firms have been in a fierce race to deliver the most advanced AI models - especially after China's DeepSeek shocked markets in January 2025 with the release of AI chips developed at just a fraction of the cost of US rivals. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis recently warned that China's AI models might be just "a matter of months" behind American counterparts. From May 2022 through April 2023, Ding, 38, stole more than two thousand pages of confidential company information containing Google's AI secrets and uploaded them to his personal Google Cloud account, the Justice Department said Friday. Ding - who was indicted in March 2024 - also secretly affiliated himself with two Chinese tech firms while he was working at Google, according to the DOJ. He was in talks to serve as a chief technology officer for a tech firm based in China, and in the process of founding his own China-based startup. In multiple statements to potential investors, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer using the trade secrets he stole from Google, according to the Justice Department. In December 2023, less than two weeks before he left the tech giant, he downloaded the stolen documents onto his personal computer, according to court documents. The stolen docs contained detailed information about Google's Tensor Processing Unit chips and its custom-built SmartNIC, a network interface card - information that could be used to train large AI models, the DOJ said. This case of espionage and theft involved "some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. Ding faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft and 15 years in prison for each count of economic espionage. His attorney Grant Fondo argued that the documents could not have contained valuable trade secrets because Google did not do enough to protect the information. "Google chose openness over security," Fondo told the jury in closing arguments, according to Courthouse News Service. "They did not take reasonable measures."

Ex-Google engineer convicted of stealing AI secrets for Chinese companies - VnExpress International

Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was found guilty after an 11-day trial of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice last Thursday. Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum 15-year prison term and $5 million fine, while each trade secrets charge carries a maximum 10-year term and $250,000 fine. Ding is scheduled to appear at a status conference on February 3, according to the DOJ. An attorney for Ding, also known as Leon Ding, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ding was originally indicted in March 2024 on four counts of theft of trade secrets. A superseding indictment in February expanded the charges. Ding's case was coordinated through an interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force, created in 2023 by the Biden administration. Prosecutors said Ding stole information about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that lets Google's supercomputing data centers train large AI models. Some of the allegedly stolen chip blueprints were meant to give Google, owned by Alphabet, an edge over cloud computing rivals Amazon.com and Microsoft, which design their own, and reduce Google's reliance on chips from Nvidia. Prosecutors said Ding joined Google in May 2019 and began his thefts three years later, when he was being courted to join an early-stage Chinese technology company. Google was not charged and has said it cooperated with law enforcement. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.