A former software engineer who previously worked at Google is facing charges for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company while collaborating with two Chinese-based companies, as reported by the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday.
Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was apprehended in Newark, California, and is accused of four counts of federal trade secret theft, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The announcement of the case against Ding was made during an American Bar Association Conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, emphasizing the ongoing concerns regarding Chinese economic espionage and the national security risks associated with advancements in artificial intelligence.
FBI director Christopher Wray commented, stating, “Today’s charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation.”
The Justice Department has recently raised alarms about the potential misuse of AI technologies by foreign adversaries to impact the United States negatively.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco highlighted the administration’s focus on AI enforcement through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, while Wray warned business leaders about the increased risk of adversaries using AI and other emerging technologies to interfere with the U.S. political landscape.
In a separate development, a Federal Court judge has prohibited a Chinese engineering student from pursuing studies in Canada due to concerns about potential government coercion for espionage activities. Experts anticipate similar cases arising in the future.
According to an indictment unveiled in the Northern District of California, Ding, who joined Google in 2019 and had access to confidential data on the company’s supercomputing data centers, allegedly began uploading numerous files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.
Furthermore, Ding held executive positions at two undisclosed companies in China while employed at Google, without disclosing these affiliations to the tech giant. He resigned from Google on December 26, following which it was discovered that he had misrepresented himself as the CEO of one of the Chinese firms at an investor conference in Beijing.
It remains unclear if Ding, aged 38, has legal representation to address the allegations against him.
