Google Engineer Accused of Stealing AI Secrets for China in Federal Indictment

Google Engineer Arrested for Allegedly Stealing AI Trade Secrets

Indictment Charges Linwei Ding with Theft of Confidential Files

A federal grand jury has indicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, a Google engineer, for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) chip software and hardware. Ding was arrested on Wednesday morning in Newark, California, following the indictment on March 5th. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated:

“Ding stole from Google over 500 confidential files containing AI trade secrets while covertly working for China-based companies seeking an edge in the AI technology race.”

Stolen Data Focuses on Google’s TPU Chips and AI Workloads

The majority of the allegedly stolen data revolves around Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) chips, which power many of the company‘s AI workloads and can train and run AI models like Gemini in conjunction with Nvidia GPUs. The stolen files include software designs for both the v4 and v6 TPU chips, hardware and software specifications for GPUs used in Google’s data centers, and designs for Google’s machine learning workloads in data centers.

Image: Justice Department

Growing Concerns over Intellectual Property Theft in AI Industry

As the global race for AI technology intensifies and the US government takes steps to prevent China from accessing AI-focused chips, some Chinese companies have resorted to local chip producers to power their AI platforms. In late 2022, intelligence chiefs from the Five Eyes alliance (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) cautioned US tech companies about the potential theft of intellectual property related to AI, quantum computing, and robotics by Chinese companies.

Ding’s Alleged Actions and Charges

According to the government, Ding transferred the stolen files to a personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023, using a method that involved copying data from Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook laptop and then converting them to PDFs to evade detection by Google’s data loss prevention systems.

Less than a month after beginning to steal files, Ding was allegedly offered the position of CTO by a Chinese machine learning company called Rongshu. He traveled to China for five months to raise funds for the company and subsequently founded and led a machine learning startup named Zhisuan, all while still employed by Google. Ding resigned from Google in December 2023, after the company began questioning him about his uploads, and reportedly booked a one-way ticket to Beijing scheduled for two days after his end date.

The DOJ also alleges that in December 2023, Ding faked being present at Google’s US office by having another employee scan his badge at the door while he was actually in China. Ding faces four counts of theft of trade secrets, each carrying a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Google’s Response to the Incident

Google spokesperson José Castañeda provided the following statement to The Zero Byte:

“We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.”