Former Google Engineer Convicted for Sharing AI Technology with China

A former Google software engineer, Linwei Ding, has been convicted by a U.S. federal jury for illegally transferring AI supercomputer data from Google to Chinese technology companies.

Ding’s indictment in March 2024 came after he obstructed Google’s internal investigation and was subsequently arrested in California.

Between May 2022 and April 2023, Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential AI-related documents from Google and stored them in his personal Google Cloud account.

The stolen files contained crucial information about Google’s AI supercomputing infrastructure, proprietary TPU and GPU systems, orchestration software for large-scale AI workloads, and SmartNIC networking technology.

Ding, who joined Google in 2019, was associated with two Chinese tech companies and even negotiated a CTO role at one of them.

Subsequently, he established his own AI company in China (Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co.) and promoted his ability to replicate Google’s AI supercomputing infrastructure.

Evidence revealed Ding’s intentions to support Chinese entities, apply for a talent program sponsored by the Shanghai government, and enhance China’s computing capabilities.

“The jury learned about the PRC government’s talent plans to boost China’s economic and technological advancement,” stated the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Ding’s application for this plan indicated his goal to elevate China’s computing infrastructure to international standards.”

“Trial evidence also indicated Ding’s collaboration with Chinese government-controlled entities for AI supercomputer development and custom machine learning chip research.”

Ding concealed his affiliations with the Chinese firms from Google, never disclosed his trips to China, and asked a colleague to scan his badge periodically to create the illusion of still being in the U.S.

After an 11-day trial in San Francisco, Ding was found guilty on multiple counts of economic espionage and trade secret theft, each carrying a potential 10-15 year prison sentence. However, sentencing details are pending.

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