Google engineer arrested over alleged AI trade secret theft

What happened

Google software engineer Linwei Ding was arrested in Newark, California, on 6 March 2024, accused of stealing trade secrets relating to the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to the US Department of Justice.

Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was 38 and a Chinese national living in Newark. A federal grand jury returned an indictment on 5 March, charging him with four counts of theft of trade secrets; it was unsealed the following day.

The allegations concern confidential information about the hardware and software supporting Google’s advanced computing facilities. Prosecutors said Ding copied more than 500 unique files into a personal Google Cloud account between 21 May 2022 and 2 May 2023.

During that period, he allegedly pursued an executive role at one China-based technology company. Prosecutors also accused him of subsequently founding another company in the same industry without Google’s knowledge.

This report is based on the Justice Department’s announcement, which describes the indictment and is now archived. The charges are allegations, and Ding is presumed innocent unless proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.

The background

Google hired Ding as a software engineer in 2019. His responsibilities included developing software for its supercomputing data centres, giving him access to confidential information about their hardware, software and the AI systems they supported, according to the indictment.

These facilities provide the computing power needed to train and run large AI models. The technology at issue therefore concerns the underlying infrastructure used to develop and operate AI, rather than simply the responses produced by an AI application.

The department said Google had developed specialised hardware and several layers of software to manage this work. One component, the Cluster Management System, organises, prioritises and assigns computing tasks so that the chips can operate efficiently.

Prosecutors alleged that Ding used an intermediate copying process to avoid Google’s safeguards. He allegedly transferred information from Google source files into Apple Notes on his work-issued MacBook, converted the notes into PDF files and uploaded those files to a separate account.

The indictment says this process evaded Google’s data loss prevention systems. These are controls intended to detect or prevent sensitive information from leaving an organisation without permission; the alleged method illustrates why changes in file format can be relevant to an investigation.

The business connections described by prosecutors developed alongside the alleged copying. Around 13 June 2022, Ding received emails from the chief executive of an early-stage Chinese technology company indicating that he had been offered its chief technology officer position.

According to the indictment, Ding travelled to China on 29 October 2022 and stayed until 25 March 2023. During that visit, he allegedly took part in meetings to raise investment, with prospective investors told that he was the company’s chief technology officer and owned 20% of its shares.

By no later than 30 May 2023, prosecutors said, Ding had founded his own AI and machine-learning company and was acting as its chief executive. That company promoted a software platform intended to speed up computing work, including the training of large AI models.

Ding allegedly applied to a China-based start-up incubation programme and presented his company at an investor conference in Beijing on 24 November 2023. The indictment cited a company document describing an ambition to reproduce and improve on Google’s computing platform for use in China.

Prosecutors also alleged that Ding concealed his location. In December 2023, he allegedly allowed another Google employee to use his access badge to enter a Google building in the United States while he was in China, creating the appearance that he was working from the US office.

The indictment says his conduct breached both his employment agreement and a separate code of conduct signed when he joined Google. The allegations bring together several distinct insider-risk issues: authorised access to valuable information, undisclosed outside business interests and misleading records of physical attendance.

A separate Insider Threat Roundup report on Silicon Valley engineers charged with trade secret theft describes allegations that confidential technology files were moved to personal devices and other employers’ computers. Both reports concern alleged misuse of access held through employment, rather than an outside attacker breaking into a network.

What people are saying

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the case at an American Bar Association white-collar crime event in San Francisco. He said the alleged theft of AI-related technology raised national security concerns and described protecting sensitive US-developed technology as a Justice Department priority.

US Attorney Ismail Ramsey said prosecutors believed Ding had sought to benefit himself and the two China-based companies through his access to Google’s supercomputing information. Ramsey argued that the alleged theft could give those businesses an unfair competitive advantage.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said theft of commercial technology and trade secrets could harm employment and have wider economic and national security consequences. His comments framed the case as part of the bureau’s work to protect companies’ intellectual property.

The Justice Department said the action had been coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, jointly led by the Justice and Commerce departments. It described the group’s remit as protecting supply chains and preventing critical technology from being acquired unlawfully by authoritarian regimes and hostile states.

What happens next

At the time of the announcement, the FBI and Commerce Department were investigating. Prosecutors from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section were handling the case.

The department said each of the four counts carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if Ding were convicted. Any sentence would be determined by a federal judge after considering US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The supplied announcement does not give a trial date, a plea or a response from Ding or his legal representatives. Although the archived page carries an update date of 6 February 2025, its text reports the March 2024 arrest and does not establish the subsequent outcome of the proceedings.