Former Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI Trade Secrets for China
A US federal jury has found Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old former Google engineer, guilty of stealing over 2,000 artificial intelligence trade secrets and transferring them to China. The Department of Justice revealed Ding was convicted on seven counts of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets, with evidence showing the stolen documents included Google's advanced computing infrastructure plans and data center schematics.
The stolen materials, transferred to Ding's personal Google Cloud account while he was still employed, contained critical details about Google's internal software for managing computing clusters. Prosecutors allege Ding participated in Chinese AI technology initiatives, underscoring the case's geopolitical implications.