Archive · 30 Jan 2026
Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI Secrets
A man named Linwei Ding, who used to work for Google, was found guilty of stealing important information about artificial intelligence from Google.
This information was supposed to help two Chinese companies.
Ding was working for Google when he started stealing this information in 2022.
The stolen information was about the special computers and programs that help Google's AI learn.
The U.S. government said Ding did this to help Chinese companies compete with big U.S. tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft.
Ding could go to jail for a long time because of these crimes.
The next step in the court process is on February 3, 2024.
Linwei Ding, a former Google software engineer, was convicted of stealing AI trade secrets to benefit Chinese companies.
He was found guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets.
The stolen information involved Google's hardware infrastructure and software platform for training AI models.
Ding could face up to 15 years in prison and $5 million in fines per economic espionage charge, and 10 years and $250,000 per trade secrets charge.
The case was investigated by the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency task force created by the Biden administration.
- Who
- Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national and former Google software engineer
- What
- Convicted of stealing AI trade secrets from Google to benefit Chinese companies
- When
- Convicted on January 29, 2024; thefts occurred in 2022
- Where
- Federal jury in San Francisco, California
- Why
- To benefit two Chinese technology companies he was secretly working for
- Defendant
- Linwei Ding (aka Leon Ding)
- Charges
- 7 counts of economic espionage, 7 counts of theft of trade secrets
- Maximum Sentence
- 15 years and $5 million fine per economic espionage charge, 10 years and $250,000 fine per trade secrets charge
- Trial Duration
- 11 days
- Next Court Appearance
- February 3, 2024
- Stolen Information
- Hardware infrastructure and software platform for AI training
- Companies Involved
- Google, two Chinese companies (unnamed)
- Investigation Team
- Disruptive Technology Strike Force
