The Justice Department has announced the arrest of a former Google AI engineer, accusing him of stealing information related to the company’s advanced technologies with intentions to establish his own company in China.
The individual, identified as Leon Ding or Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was apprehended in Newark, California, and charged with four counts of trade secret theft.
Officials from the Justice Department emphasized the significance of the case, portraying it as a clear signal of the U.S. government’s unwavering stance against illicit efforts to transfer advanced U.S. technologies to China, particularly amid a Cold War-like technological competition between Washington and Beijing.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk.”
If convicted, Ding could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million.
According to court documents filed on Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, Ding joined Google as a software engineer in 2019, focusing on supercomputing data centers and the development of software for machine learning and AI applications.
Prosecutors allege that Ding began uploading confidential Google information to a personal Google Cloud account in May 2022, with over 500 files uploaded by May 2023. The trade secret theft charges pertain to chip architecture and software design specifications for “tensor processing units” and “graphics processing units,” crucial components of supercomputing centers.
While still employed at Google, Ding reportedly assumed the role of chief technology officer at Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology, a China-based AI company, and founded another China-based company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, without informing Google.
The FBI conducted a search of Ding’s residence on January 6, seizing electronic devices and other evidence.
Assistant Secretary Matthew Axelrod of the Commerce Department’s Office for Export Enforcement issued a warning, stating, “Those who would transfer sensitive U.S. technology to China risk finding themselves on the wrong end of a criminal indictment.”
The investigation into Ding was conducted by the Justice and Commerce departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a group established to safeguard U.S. technologies from acquisition by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states.
Both the U.S. and Chinese governments regard artificial intelligence as a strategic emerging technology, with implications for civilian sectors and military capabilities. President Biden issued an AI executive order last year aimed at maintaining U.S. leadership in AI development.
Efforts to reach Ding, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology, and Shanghai Zhisuan Technology for comment were unsuccessful.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda stated that the company had referred the case to federal authorities, emphasizing Google’s strict measures to prevent the theft of confidential commercial information and trade secrets. Castañeda noted that following an investigation, it was discovered that the employee in question had stolen numerous documents, prompting swift action by Google to involve law enforcement.
