Friday, January 30, 2026-A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding on 14 counts of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets, finding he stole thousands of pages of confidential artificial intelligence technology from Google to benefit two Chinese companies and a start‑up he was quietly building in China.
The verdict came after an 11‑day trial, underscoring the seriousness with which U.S. authorities are pursuing insider technology theft tied to foreign interests.
Prosecutors showed that Ding, a 38‑year‑old Chinese national, downloaded detailed internal documents about Google’s supercomputing infrastructure — including hardware and software designs used to train large AI models — and transferred the files while still employed at the company.
Evidence presented at trial painted a picture of deceptive behavior, including alleged covert affiliations with Chinese firms and efforts to leverage stolen materials to jump‑start his own artificial intelligence venture overseas.
The penalties Ding faces are steep: each count of economic espionage carries up to 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, and each theft of trade secrets count could mean up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine, signaling a tough stance by the U.S. Department of Justice on protecting cutting‑edge technology.
Legal experts say the case also highlights broader national security concerns around intellectual property and foreign competition in the global race for AI leadership.
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