A Google employee steals artificial intelligence technology and leaks information to China

A Google employee allegedly stole secret AI technology while secretly working for tech companies in China. In the indictment released by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday, Linwei Deng, also known as Leon Deng, was charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets.

Authorities said Ding was arrested Wednesday morning in Newark, California, about 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley. According to the indictment, the 38-year-old stole more than 500 files containing detailed information about Google's AI data center hardware and software, which are the building blocks of powerful AI models and are currently revolutionizing the world of technology.

The indictment alleges that Ding founded a secret startup in China without Google's knowledge. It is also said that the defendant assigned a colleague in the United States of America to carry out his work tasks so that Google would not become aware of Deng's secret activities in China.

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“We have strict safeguards in place to prevent the theft of our confidential business information and secrets. After investigation, we discovered that this employee stole numerous documents. We quickly referred the case to law enforcement,” Google's Jose Castañeda told Business Insider US. “We are grateful to the FBI.” “To help them protect our information, we will continue to work closely with them.”

Ding, who lives in Newark and has Chinese citizenship, started at Google in 2019 as a software engineer. According to the indictment, one of his main tasks at the company was developing software used in Google's supercomputing data centers.

According to the indictment, “Ding’s job responsibilities at Google are such that he has access to confidential information relating to Google’s hardware infrastructure, its software platform, and its supporting artificial intelligence models and applications.”

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As a result, Ding began secretly uploading confidential Google information to his Google Cloud in May 2022. Castañeda told Business Insider that the scandal involved one junior employee, ensuring that this was not a widespread problem at Google.

An email from June 2022 also shows Ding receiving a job offer from a Chinese CEO of a technology company to work as CTO with a monthly salary of $14,800. This emerges from information received from federal prosecutors.

Additionally, the indictment states that while in China between October 2022 and March 2023, Ding attended meetings to obtain funds for the technology company.
In November 2023, Ding presented his own company at an investor conference.

A document about the company also states: “We already have experience with Google's ten-thousand-card computing power platform – we just need to iterate and update it. Next, we must further develop a computing power platform suitable for China's national conditions.”

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If convicted, Deng faces a fine of $250,000 on each count and up to 10 years in prison. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that threaten our national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement accompanying the charges.

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