Ex-Google Engineer Charged for Stealing AI Secrets to Aid Chinese Firm

Defense News ,U.S :- The US Justice Department has announced the arrest of a Chinese national, who was a former Google Artificial Intelligence (AI) engineer, alleging that he stole information about the company's advanced technologies to set up his own company in China, reported The Washington Post.

On Wednesday, the 38-year-old, also known as Linwei Ding, was arrested and detained in Newark, California. He faces four counts of trade secret theft, according to the announcement by the Justice Department. This development underscores the US government's commitment to preventing the unauthorized transfer of advanced technologies to China amid a technological arms race reminiscent of a cold war between Washington and Beijing.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the severity of the issue, stating, "The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk." If convicted, Ding could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines of up to USD 1 million.

The indictment, filed in federal court in San Francisco, reveals that Ding joined Google as a software engineer in 2019, contributing to the development of the company's supercomputing data centers. His responsibilities included working on software to facilitate machine learning and AI applications for Google's clients.

Prosecutors claim that Ding initiated the unauthorized transfer of confidential Google information to a personal Google Cloud account in May 2022, accumulating over 500 files by May 2023. The trade secret theft charges revolve around chip architecture and software design specifications related to "tensor processing units" and "graphics processing units" – components crucial for supercomputing centers.

Simultaneously employed at Google, Ding assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer at Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology, an AI company based in China. Additionally, he founded Shanghai Zhisuan Technology without informing Google, as per the indictment.

The FBI conducted a search of Ding's residence on January 6, seizing electronic devices and other evidence, reported The Washington Post. Assistant Secretary Matthew Axelrod of the Commerce Department's Office for Export Enforcement issued a warning, stating, "Those who would transfer sensitive US technology to China risk finding themselves on the wrong end of a criminal indictment."

The Justice Department revealed that the investigation into Ding was conducted by the Justice and Commerce Departments' Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a unit formed a year ago to safeguard US technologies from falling into the hands of "authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states."

Both the US and Chinese governments consider AI a strategic emerging technology with broad potential for economic growth in civilian sectors and significant applications in military and intelligence. Last year, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on AI, aimed at maintaining US leadership in AI development compared to countries like China.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated that the company had referred the case to federal officials, emphasizing their stringent measures to prevent the theft of confidential information and trade secrets. "After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement," he added.