Former Google engineer indicted for stealing AI secrets to aid Chinese firms

A erstwhile Google package technologist was indicted successful California connected Tuesday connected charges of stealing waste and acquisition secrets related to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that he took to use a brace of companies based successful nan People's Republic of China (PRC).

Linwei Ding, besides known arsenic Leon Ding, was charged pinch 4 counts of waste and acquisition concealed theft for transferring Google's waste and acquisition secrets and different confidential accusation to Chinese companies. Ding, 38, began moving for Google successful 2019 and worked connected nan tech giant's supercomputing information centers processing package that allowed graphics processing units (GPUs) to usability efficiently for instrumentality learning, AI applications aliases different purposes required by Google aliases its clients.

According to nan indictment, Ding uploaded complete 500 unsocial files containing Google's confidential information, including waste and acquisition secrets, into a individual Google unreality relationship betwixt May 2022 and May 2023. Ding exfiltrated these files by copying information from Google root files successful Apple Notes connected his company-issued laptop, and past converting those notes into PDF files and uploading them from Google's web to evade detection.

Less than a period aft his unauthorized upload activity started, Ding was offered a CTO occupation pinch a Chinese institution known arsenic Rongshu for $14,800 a period positive a prize and stock. Rongshu's business aimed to create package to accelerate instrumentality learning connected GPU chips and trained AI models.

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Former Google technologist Linwei Ding allegedly stole complete 500 confidential Google documents that included waste and acquisition secrets to assistance Chinese AI companies. (LIU JIN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Ding besides founded a institution called Zhisuan that projected to create a cluster guidance strategy to accelerate instrumentality learning workloads and training ample AI models powered by supercomputing chips, according to nan indictment. 

The institution received backing from a PRC-based startup incubator and touted its expertise to replicate and amended upon Google's level to "develop a computational powerfulness level suited to China's nationalist condition."

Google detected Ding's upload activity while he was successful China successful December 2023, and connected Dec. 8 he told an interrogator from nan institution that he wanted to usage nan accusation arsenic grounds of his activity astatine Google and signed an affidavit that he would delete immoderate delicate Google information successful his possession.

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The Chinese Communist Party and China-based companies person sought to prioritize AI to boost nan country's tech assemblage arsenic good arsenic its subject modernization. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Less than a week later, Ding booked a one-way formation from San Francisco to Beijing, and connected Dec. 26 he tendered his resignation effective Jan. 5, 2024, nan indictment said. In precocious December, Google learned that Ding had presented arsenic nan CEO of Zhisuan astatine an investor convention successful Beijing nan period earlier and recovered his unauthorized uploads aft searching his web activity history.

Google information unit retrieved his institution laptop and mobile instrumentality from his residence connected Jan. 4, and nan FBI executed hunt warrants to unafraid physics devices and different grounds connected Jan. 6 and 13, according to nan indictment.

"While Linwei Ding was employed arsenic a package technologist astatine Google, he was secretly moving to enrich himself and 2 companies based successful nan People's Republic of China," said U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey successful a property release. "By stealing Google's waste and acquisition secrets astir its artificial intelligence supercomputing systems, Ding gave himself and nan companies that he affiliated pinch successful nan PRC an unfair competitory advantage."

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Ding allegedly stole Google's waste and acquisition secrets to use a brace of Chinese companies, including 1 he founded. (LI XIN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

"The stolen accusation concerns some Google's hardware infrastructure and its AI package platform. Generally, nan accusation concerns nan exertion that allows Google's supercomputing information centers to train ample AI models done instrumentality learning. While doing this, Ding was secretly tied to 2 PRC-based exertion companies. Both were artificial intelligence companies," Ramsey added successful a video statement.

A Google spokesperson told FOX Business successful a statement: "We person strict safeguards to forestall nan theft of our confidential commercialized accusation and waste and acquisition secrets. After an investigation, we recovered that this worker stole galore documents, and we quickly referred nan lawsuit to rule enforcement. We are grateful to nan FBI for helping protect our accusation and will proceed cooperating pinch them closely."

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The institution said that its investigation recovered it was 1 inferior worker acting connected their ain and isn't a pervasive problem astatine Google. It besides noted that worker activity connected Google's web was logged, including record transfers to platforms for illustration Google Drive and DropBox.

Reuters contributed to this report.