A Chinese software engineer, Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, has been apprehended on allegations of purloining artificial intelligence technology from Google while covertly working for two Chinese enterprises. The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, disclosed that Ding, 38, is confronted with four charges of misappropriating trade secrets.
Ding, who was detained in Newark, California, purportedly shifted confidential data from Google’s system to his personal account while clandestinely linked to Chinese firms in the AI sector. Garland emphasized the Justice Department’s staunch stance against the theft of advanced technologies that could jeopardize national security.
FBI director Christopher Wray underscored the significance of safeguarding American innovation from illicit acquisition, pointing out the detrimental impact of technology theft on employment and national security. The indictment revealed that Ding, employed by Google in 2019, engaged in developing software for the company’s supercomputing data centers.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, Ding allegedly transferred Google’s proprietary information to a personal cloud account. The stolen data pertained to the infrastructure and software enabling Google’s data centers to train extensive AI models using machine learning.
In June 2022, Ding was enticed by the CEO of a Chinese tech startup, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co (Rongshu), to assume the role of chief technology officer with a lucrative monthly salary. Subsequently, Ding established his own Chinese company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co (Zhisuan), without disclosing these affiliations to Google.
Upon Ding’s resignation from Google in December 2023, the company scrutinized his network activities and unearthed the unauthorized uploads from the previous year. Google promptly reported the incident to law enforcement, commending the FBI for their assistance in protecting confidential information.
If found guilty, Ding could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison per count and fines reaching $250,000.
