The engineer, who works for the search engine, is accused of stealing trade secrets for China
A Google Engineer, Linwei Ding, has been Indicated for Stealing Trade Secrets around Google’s AI Chip Software and Hardware
A federal grand jury has indicted a Google engineer, Linwei Ding, aka Leon Ding, for allegedly stealing trade secrets around Google’s AI chip software and hardware on March 5th, before he was arrested Wednesday morning in Newark, California. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement that 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.”
The software designs for both the v4 and v6 TPU chips are among the files that were allegedly stolen.
He converted the files from the Apple Notes application on his Macbook to the PDF version in order to avoid detection by data loss prevention systems.
He traveled to China to raise money for the company that worked on Artificial Intelligence, and was the company’s chief technology officer. A year later, Ding also allegedly founded his own technology company, Zhisuan, that also focused on AI and machine learning.
Attorney General Garland said that the Justice Department would not tolerate theft of advanced technologies that could put national security at risk. From now on, we will protect the sensitive technologies developed in America from those who should never have them.
The FBI Director said the charges are indicative of the lengths affiliates of companies in the People’s Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation. Jobs can be lost and national security consequences can be serious when trade secrets and innovative technology are stolen from American companies.
AI also could become an indispensable tool to help law enforcement protect public safety. If artificial intelligence falls into the possession of criminals or hostile nation states it can pose a threat to national security.
Ding’s email correspondence with an offer from the Chinese technology company Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology to be its chief technology officer
In May of2022, she began uploading confidential information from the network to her own account on the cloud.
Less than a month later, court papers say, Ding received emails from the head of a Chinese technology company, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology, with an offer to be the company’s chief technology officer.
