Former Google Engineer Convicted in U.S. for Stealing AI Trade Secrets to Aid China-Based Startup

A former Google software engineer has been found guilty in the United States for unlawfully taking thousands of confidential Google documents to support a technology venture in China, according to an announcement made by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday.

Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, aged 38, was convicted by a federal jury on 14 charges—seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors established that Ding illegally copied more than 2,000 internal Google files containing highly sensitive artificial intelligence (AI) trade secrets with the intent of benefiting the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

“Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security,” said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk.”

Ding was initially indicted in March 2024 after investigators discovered that he had transferred proprietary data from Google’s internal systems to his personal Google Cloud account. The materials allegedly stolen included detailed information on

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