Ex-Google Engineer Convicted in Major AI Trade Secrets Theft for China
Linwei Ding found guilty on 14 counts of economic espionage and stealing confidential AI tech.
A federal jury in San Francisco convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding on Thursday of stealing highly sensitive artificial intelligence trade secrets from the tech giant to benefit two undisclosed Chinese companies. The 38-year-old Chinese national, also known as Leon Ding, was found guilty after an 11-day trial on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors described it as one of the most significant cases involving the theft of proprietary AI infrastructure information.
According to the US Department of Justice, Ding stole thousands of pages of confidential documents detailing Google’s advanced hardware infrastructure and software platform used to train large-scale AI models in its supercomputing data centres. The stolen materials included chip blueprints designed to give Google a competitive advantage over rivals like Amazon and Microsoft in cloud computing, while reducing dependence on Nvidia chips. Ding joined Google in May 2019 and allegedly began the thefts in 2022 after being recruited by a Chinese startup.
Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, while each trade secrets theft count carries up to 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Ding faces a status conference on February 3, 2026, with sentencing to follow. His attorney did not immediately comment on the verdict. The case was handled through the Biden-era Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency effort targeting threats to US technological edge.
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Google cooperated fully with federal investigators and faces no charges in the matter. The conviction underscores growing US concerns over intellectual property theft in the AI sector, particularly involving Chinese entities, amid intensifying rivalry in artificial intelligence development and deployment.
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