A Google employee reportedly sold AI technology to China

A former Google employee is said to have stolen confidential data about Chinese companies' AI technology. The US Department of Justice brings charges. The FBI warns of the consequences of stealing innovations

A former Google software developer is said to have stolen confidential data from the internet company's artificial intelligence projects and secretly worked with Chinese companies. This was announced by the US Department of Justice.

The 38-year-old suspect was arrested in Newark, California. He is charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets at the federal level. He faces up to ten years in prison for each individual count.

One view Leading position In China

According to the indictment, Google hired the suspect in 2019. He had access to confidential information about the company's high-performance data centers. Two years ago, he reportedly began uploading hundreds of files to a private Google Cloud account.

A few weeks after the alleged theft began, the software developer was reportedly offered a CTO position at an up-and-coming technology company in his native China, which he accepted.

Secret Commercial activities In China

His monthly salary was about $14,800 (about 13,600 euros). In addition, he was offered an annual bonus and shares in the company. This company announced that it will use artificial intelligence technology. According to the indictment, the suspect traveled to China, attended investor meetings and attempted to raise capital for the company.

He also founded a startup in China and served as its managing director. The indictment said his company sought to build “large-scale AI models” that would be “powered by high-performance chips.” He did not disclose his side activities to Google.

Detection of theft

At the end of December 2023, the suspect resigned from Google. Three days later, company executives reportedly discovered him when they learned that the man had appeared as the CEO of a Chinese company at an investor conference in Beijing.

While reviewing surveillance footage, they discovered that his access badge had been scanned by another employee at his workplace, the indictment said. He was supposed to appear as if he was at work when he was actually in China.

The FBI warns of the consequences Stealing innovation

“Today’s charges are the latest example of how willing affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China are to steal American innovations,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies could cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.”

Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesman, said the defendant “stole many documents.” “We are grateful to the FBI for their assistance in protecting our information.” Google will continue to work closely with investigators.