Alleged Theft of Google’s TPU Chips and Data Center Files
By Emilia David, an AI reporter with expertise in technology, finance, and the economy.
An indictment by a federal grand jury has been issued against Linwei Ding, a Google engineer also known as Leon Ding. The charges involve the purported theft of trade secrets related to Google’s AI chip software and hardware. The incident took place on March 5th, and Ding was subsequently arrested in Newark, California, on Wednesday morning. According to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Ding is accused of absconding with more than 500 confidential files containing AI trade secrets from Google. The stolen information was allegedly shared with Chinese companies aiming to gain a competitive advantage in the AI technology sector.
The pilfered data primarily pertains to Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) chips, which play a vital role in powering numerous AI workloads. These chips, in conjunction with Nvidia GPUs, are instrumental in training and executing AI models such as Gemini. Google has also facilitated access to these chips through collaborative platforms like Hugging Face.
Overview of Stolen Technology Associated with Google TPUs, GPUs, and Data Centers
The stolen files reportedly encompass software designs for both the v4 and v6 TPU chips, hardware and software specifications for GPUs utilized in Google’s data centers, and designs for machine learning workloads within Google’s data centers.
Against the backdrop of an escalating AI technology race and US government initiatives to restrict China’s access to AI-centric chips, certain Chinese entities have opted to engage local chip manufacturers to fuel their AI initiatives. Notably, intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes alliance—comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—cautioned American tech firms last year about the risk of Chinese companies pilfering intellectual property related to AI, quantum computing, and robotics.
The government’s allegations against Ding include the unauthorized transfer of files to his personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023. To evade detection by Google’s data loss prevention systems, Ding purportedly copied data from Google source files to the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook laptop, subsequently converting them to PDF format.
Within a month of initiating the data theft, Ding allegedly received an offer from a Chinese machine learning firm, Rongshu, to serve as its Chief Technology Officer. He then spent five months in China raising capital for the company and later established a machine learning startup named Zhisuan, all while still employed at Google. Ding resigned from Google in December 2023, reportedly purchasing a one-way ticket to Beijing scheduled to depart two days after his official departure date, following inquiries from the company regarding his file uploads.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) asserts that in December 2023, Ding deceived Google by having a colleague scan his badge at the US office entrance while he was physically in China. Ding faces four counts of theft of trade secrets, with each count carrying a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine upon conviction.
