A Chinese national living in Newark has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from Google, prosecutors said Wednesday.  

Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, worked for Google as a software engineer. He was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets in connection with an alleged plan to steal proprietary information from Google LLC. 

The indictment alleges that Ding stole over 500 files related to artificial intelligence, or AI, as well as other confidential information, which he transferred from Google’s network onto his own personal account. The government also alleges Ding did so while secretly affiliating himself with other People’s Republic of China-based companies in the AI industry, in an attempt to get into business with them and against the best interests of his employer and the country.  

“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 in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice. “The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.”  

Ding is accused of stealing the “building blocks” to Google’s supercomputing data centers, which are used to train and host large AI models.  

“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. … The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.”   U.S. Department of Justice

AI models are AI applications capable of understanding nuanced language and generating intelligent responses to prompts, tasks, or queries, according to the Department of Justice. 

Ding was hired in 2019 to develop software in these supercomputing centers.  

In addition to allegedly stealing Google’s trade secrets, the government alleges that in 2022, Ding had been offered a job as Chief Technology Officer for one of the Chinese startup companies he had been communicating with, even traveling to the country to meet with investors and raise capital.  By 2023 he had started his own company.

“Unbeknownst to Google… Ding had founded his own technology company in the AI and machine learning industry and was acting as the company’s CEO,” said the DOJ.  

Ding’s startup company allegedly stated, “we have experience with Google’s ten-thousand-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.”  

If convicted, each of the four counts against Ding run a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000. His next court date is scheduled for April 24, for a hearing on assignment of counsel.  

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.