Google Software Engineer Charged with Trade Secrets Theft for Chinese AI Development

A Chinese software engineer employed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Linwei Ding, is facing charges from the US Justice Department for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to artificial intelligence (AI) development from Google’s supercomputing data centers. Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national residing in Newark, California, was hired by Google in 2019 and is accused of four counts of trade secrets theft, according to a statement released by the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “We allege the defendant stole artificial intelligence-related trade secrets from Google while secretly working for two companies based in China. We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them.”

The charges assert that Ding, also known as Leon Ding, transferred confidential information from Google’s network to his personal email and cloud accounts. Simultaneously, he maintained undisclosed affiliations with two China-based companies operating in the AI industry. It is alleged that Ding actively participated in forming one of these undisclosed companies, all the while concealing his connections from Google.

Google contends that Ding acted independently, and the company promptly reported the issue to law enforcement upon its discovery. Google spokesperson José Castañeda stated, “We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.”

The Justice Department does not claim that Ding provided the stolen data to the Chinese companies he was affiliated with. This case marks a significant enforcement action following the recent announcement by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco about the Justice Department’s focus on violations related to the use or transfer of AI technology.

Ding, arrested in Newark on Wednesday, could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count if convicted. The stolen technology reportedly involves critical components of Google’s advanced supercomputing data centers, designed to support machine learning workloads for training and hosting large AI models. Ding had access to confidential information during his employment at Google, including details about hardware, software, and AI models, some of which he allegedly uploaded to personal accounts.