A former Google engineer has been convicted of economic espionage and trade secret theft after stealing thousands of confidential AI-related documents to launch a startup in China. The defendant, Linwei Ding, faces significant prison time for transferring sensitive information about supercomputing infrastructure and custom hardware to his personal accounts while secretly serving as an executive for overseas companies.
A federal jury in the United States has convicted Linwei Ding, a thirty-eight-year-old former Google employee, on multiple counts of stealing proprietary artificial intelligence technology. The Department of Justice revealed that Ding, also known as Leon Ding, misappropriated more than two thousand documents detailing the inner workings of the tech giant's supercomputing data centers. These trade secrets were intended to benefit interests in the People's Republic of China, where Ding was actively building his own business ventures while still drawing a salary from Google.
The information stolen by Ding was critical to Google’s competitive edge in the artificial intelligence sector. It included architecture for custom tensor processing units, software used to orchestrate massive chip clusters, and designs for specialized networking hardware. Prosecutors established that the theft occurred over a period of roughly one year, during which Ding secretly acted as the chief technology officer for one Chinese startup and founded another focused on machine learning. By the time he resigned from Google in late 2023, he had already begun pitching his own company to investors.
To evade detection, Ding employed several deceptive tactics to bypass Google’s security protocols. He reportedly copied sensitive technical data into the Apple Notes application on his work laptop and then converted those notes into PDF files before uploading them to a personal cloud account. Additionally, Ding attempted to hide his physical location by having a colleague scan his access badge at a Google office in the United States while he was actually traveling in China to promote his new business.
The investigation into Ding’s activities further revealed his involvement in state-sponsored talent programs designed to transfer foreign research and development expertise to China. Evidence presented during the trial showed that Ding applied for these programs with the explicit goal of helping China achieve computing power capabilities that rivaled international standards. His conviction for economic espionage highlights the government's stance that his actions were not merely personal theft but were intended to benefit entities controlled by a foreign government.
Following the jury's verdict, Ding remains in federal custody awaiting further legal proceedings scheduled for early 2026. He faces a maximum penalty of fifteen years in prison for each count of economic espionage and ten years for each count of trade secret theft. This case serves as a significant warning regarding the protection of intellectual capital in Silicon Valley and the legal consequences for individuals who attempt to compromise national security for unfair commercial advantages.
Source: Former Google Engineer Convicted For Stealing AI Trade Secrets For China Startup