Chinese National Indicted In Theft of AI Secrets

"A Chinese national who worked at Google was indicted on charges he stole the company's artificial-intelligence trade secrets as part of a multiyear scheme to compromise sensitive American technology and boost Beijing in the high-stakes global race to dominate the booming industry.

The Justice Department alleged Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, sent sensitive Google trade secrets and other confidential information from the company's network to his personal Google account, while secretly being affiliated with Chinese AI companies. Prosecutors allege he started a company based in China while continuing to work at Google.

Ding, 38 years old, was arrested Wednesday morning in Newark, Calif., the Justice Department said. He faces four counts of trade-secrets theft. Prosecutors allege he stole more than 500 files containing AI trade secrets. Each count comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if he is convicted.

"The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Some of the secrets Ding allegedly stole had to do with the microchips that form the backbone of artificial-intelligence systems and are considered to be a competitive advantage to the companies that develop them. Google develops chips, known as tensor processing units, or TPUs, for these tasks.

A Google spokesman said the company has "strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets."

The Wall Street Journal reported in December that U.S. intelligence officials have grown alarmed about Beijing's efforts to steal American AI secrets and believe the technology is being used to turbocharge China's broader spying ambitions.

Ding had worked at Google as an engineer starting in 2019 and was focused on the software used to manage the servers that powered Google's AI technologies, which he attempted to steal, according to the indictment. The alleged thefts began in May 2022, prosecutors alleged." [1]

1. U.S. News: Chinese National Indicted In Theft of AI Secrets. Volz, Dustin; McMillan, Robert.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 07 Mar 2024: A.3.