A Chinese national has been arrested for allegedly stealing propriety information from Google involving its artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Linwei (aka Leon) Ding, 38, was arrested Wednesday in Newark, California, and charged with four counts of "theft of trade secrets," according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
The software engineer was hired by Google in 2019 to develop a system used by the company's supercomputer data centers, including software enabling the training of advanced AI models.
The case comes as U.S. officials are sounding the alarm over what they say is the unprecedented threat China poses through the theft of intellectual property, research and emerging technology on a grand scale. Under Beijing's National Interest Law, all Chinese firms are legally required to share information with the government.
Ding allegedly used access to obtain the proprietary information from Google's Network and began uploading it to a personal Google Cloud account in May 2022. He allegedly uploaded over 500 confidential files over the course of a year, according to Ding's indictment.
While still employed at Google, Ding traveled to China for five months, where he secretly accepted a position as the chief technology officer of Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co., a company developing machine learning platforms, the indictment read citing Ding's email correspondence.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice and Chinese foreign ministry with written requests for comment.
By the end of May last year, Ding had launched a business of his own, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co.
An investor pitch he shared on China's WeChat messaging app during another trip to the country in November read: "We have experience with Google's
10,000-card computational power platform; we just need to replicate and upgrade it and then further develop a computational power platform suited to China's national conditions."
A month later, Google caught wind of Ding's business activities in China, learning he had presented himself as Zhisuan's CEO at a conference of investors in Beijing.
The company blocked his access to its network, locked his Google notebook remotely, and found the history of Ding's uploads.
"Today's charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
"The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences. The FBI will continue its efforts to vigorously pursue those responsible for stealing U.S. companies' intellectual property and most closely guarded secrets," he said.
Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine per count if convicted.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
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