Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco for stealing AI trade secrets to benefit two Chinese companies, the U.S. Department of Justice reported. Ding, 38, was found guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets after an 11-day trial.
Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, while trade secret charges carry up to 10 years and $250,000 in fines. Ding is scheduled to appear at a status conference on February 3. His attorney has not responded to requests for comment.
Ding, also known as Leon Ding, joined Google in May 2019 and began stealing information about the company’s hardware infrastructure and software platform for training large AI models three years later. Prosecutors said some stolen chip blueprints were intended to give Google an edge over cloud rivals Amazon and Microsoft while reducing reliance on Nvidia chips. The case was coordinated through the interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force created by the Biden administration in 2023. Google was not charged and cooperated fully with authorities.
