A former Google engineer has been accused of stealing trade secrets from the tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) division and attempting to sell them to China. Linwei Ding, 38, has been charged by US prosecutors with harvesting 500 Google files. He allegedly copied files relating to Google’s cutting-edge AI chips, including software that could be used as the “brain” of advanced supercomputers, according to US court papers.
Mr Ding, a Chinese citizen, started working in Google’s San Francisco office in 2019 but by 2022 had allegedly started secretly copying files onto his personal computer. It is claimed that year he was hired as chief technology officer of a Chinese start-up, Rongshu, which was seeking to build AI technology. He was paid $14,800 a month for his role at Rongshu, which he carried out without Google’s knowledge. He later founded his own start-up called Zhisuan, spending months in China to raise money from investors while still employed at Google.
In a private message to Chinese colleagues, Mr Ding said the start-up had “experience with Google’s ten-thousand-card computational power platform”. He said: “We just need to replicate and upgrade it and then further develop a computational power platform suited to China’s national conditions.” Mr Ding allegedly asked Google colleagues to scan his badge at the company’s offices to make it appear as if he was in the US, when he was in fact visiting China.
However, Google security started investigating Mr Ding in December 2023 and ordered him to delete any files that he may have on his personal drive. Days later, he resigned from Google and booked a one-way ticket to Beijing, China, to leave on Jan 7, 2024. However, Google security subsequently seized his laptop before the FBI then raided his home on Jan 6. He was arrested on Wednesday in Newark, California. Among the files he had allegedly stolen were blueprints to some of Google’s most advanced AI chips and supercomputer tools.
They contained details on how to “orchestrate thousands of chips into a supercomputer capable of executing at the cutting edge of machine learning and AI technology”. US officials have long warned that Chinese companies are seeking to steal Silicon Valley’s secrets. As a result, the US government has placed dozens of Chinese tech companies on sanctions lists to block them from accessing AI technology that could be used to benefit China’s military goals.
Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General, said: “The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk.” FBI director Christopher Wray said Mr Ding’s arrest demonstrates “the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation”.
A Google spokesman said: “We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.” Mr Ding could not be reached for comment. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
