Ex-Google Engineer Arrested for Allegedly Stealing AI Secrets for Chinese Competitors

A former Google engineer was arrested in California for allegedly stealing over 500 files containing trade secrets related to artificial intelligence and sharing them with competing tech firms in China. Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national who began his career at Google in 2019, is accused of uploading sensitive information from his Google-issued laptop to personal cloud storage accounts over the course of a year, from May 2022 to May 2023. The documents comprised fundamental elements of Google’s AI infrastructure.

Ding faces four counts of theft of trade secrets, which could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years and fines of up to $250,000 per count. In a statement, Google spokesperson José Castañeda emphasized the company's robust safeguards against such thefts, noting that the information was referred to law enforcement promptly after an internal investigation revealed the breach.

This incident unfolds amid ongoing tensions between the United States and China regarding advancements in artificial intelligence. In response to concerns over military applications, the Biden administration has restricted the export of advanced AI chips, including those developed by NVIDIA, to China. FBI Director Christopher Wray remarked that the recent charges underscore the lengths to which affiliates of Chinese companies will go to steal American innovation, highlighting the potential job losses and significant economic and national security risks associated with such thefts.

According to the indictment, Ding allegedly copied sensitive information into Apple Notes on his laptop, converted the files to PDFs, and uploaded them to his personal Google account to avoid detection by Google’s security systems. To maintain the deception, he lent his Google badge to another employee, creating the illusion that he was working at Google while actually collaborating with rival companies in China. Ding also reportedly assisted in raising capital for one Chinese firm where he served as chief technology officer, and he founded another AI company in China, acting as its CEO.

This case is not isolated; the U.S. has previously charged several Chinese nationals with stealing trade secrets from American firms. Notably, three former Apple employees were charged for taking confidential information related to the now-canceled Apple Car project and funneling it to companies in China. One of those engineers was sentenced last month to six months in prison and fined nearly $150,000.