Former Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI Secrets for China

Key Findings:

Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding (also known as Leon Ding) was convicted by a federal jury on 7 counts of economic espionage and 7 counts of theft of trade secrets.
Ding stole over 2,000 confidential documents containing Google's trade secrets related to artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The stolen information included details about Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) systems, software orchestrating AI supercomputing, and custom-designed network interface cards (SmartNICs).
Ding downloaded the documents to his personal accounts in December 2023, just weeks before resigning from Google, and used deceitful methods to cover up the theft.
Ding had plans to start his own AI company in China and help build an AI supercomputer on par with international standards, intending to benefit the Chinese government.

Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, joined Google in 2019 as a software engineer.
Around June 2022, he was in discussions to become the Chief Technology Officer of an early-stage tech company in China.
By early 2023, Ding had founded his own AI startup, Shanghai Zhisuan Technologies Co., and was serving as its CEO.
The theft of trade secrets occurred between May 2022 and April 2023, while Ding was still employed at Google.

Ding downloaded over 2,000 pages of confidential documents containing details about Google's AI infrastructure, including its custom-designed TPU chips, GPU systems, software for managing AI supercomputing, and SmartNIC networking cards.
He used various methods to conceal the theft, such as copying data to Apple Notes and converting it to PDF before uploading to his Google account.
Ding also asked a Google colleague to use his badge to make it appear he was working from the office when he was actually in China.

Ding intended to use the stolen trade secrets to benefit the Chinese government and help build an AI supercomputer "on par with the international level".
He applied to a Shanghai-based "talent program" sponsored by Beijing, which encourages experts to bring their skills and knowledge to China.
Prosecutors accused Ding of attempting to share the stolen technology with two entities controlled by the Chinese government.

Ding faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and up to 15 years for each count of economic espionage.
The conviction highlights the U.S. government's efforts to protect American intellectual property and technological leadership from foreign exploitation, particularly from China.

https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/ex-google-engineer-convicted-for.html
https://hackread.com/google-engineer-convict-steal-ai-secrets-china/
https://x.com/TheHackersNews/status/2017140595404525809
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/ex-google-engineer-guilty-of-stealing-ai-tech-for-chinese-firm
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ex-google-engineer-convicted-espionage-012049375.html
https://www.indiablooms.com/world/us-ex-google-engineer-convicted-of-stealing-ai-secrets-to-benefit-china/details