A former Google software engineer is accused of stealing the company’s trade secrets related to artificial intelligence and machine learning. According to the US lawsuit, the engineer allegedly sent models tested at Google to Chinese companies.
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A Google employee named Linwei Ding, also known as “Leon Ding”, has been charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets. The 38-year-old Chinese national was recently arrested.
According to the indictment, while working at Google in 2019, Ding stole information about hardware and software platforms used to train artificial intelligence models. This included Google’s proprietary chip designs and the software infrastructure that builds AI-based supercomputers.
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US prosecutors claimed that Ding also worked for a Chinese tech startup in 2022. He allegedly transferred more than 500 confidential files belonging to Google to this company. He is also accused of starting his own company last year and copying Google’s advanced computing capabilities.
Google became suspicious of Ding in December. It seized his work computer just before his resignation. A Google spokesperson said the company made attempts to prevent the theft and found that Ding had stolen private documents.
If convicted, Ding faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each offense. As part of the case, the Justice Ministry wants to crack down on trade secret theft that benefits foreign competitors.
