Ding allegedly began uploading trade secrets to a personal Google Cloud account in May 2022 and continued until May 2023, uploading over 500 unique files containing confidential information. He is also accused of secretly affiliating himself with two China-based technology companies, even accepting a position as Chief Technology Officer for one of them. Ding also allegedly founded his own technology company in the AI and machine learning industry and acted as its CEO. If convicted, Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each count. The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Commerce Department.
Key takeaways:
- A federal grand jury indicted Linwei Ding, aka Leon Ding, on four counts of theft of trade secrets related to Google's AI technology.
- Ding, a Chinese national and resident of Newark, California, allegedly transferred sensitive Google trade secrets to his personal account while secretly working with PRC-based companies in the AI industry.
- The technology Ding allegedly stole involves the building blocks of Google’s advanced supercomputing data centers, which are designed to support machine learning workloads used to train and host large AI models.
- If convicted, Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each count.