A former software engineer at Google has been arrested for allegedly stealing confidential information about artificial intelligence technology from the company while secretly working with two firms based in China, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Wednesday.
Linwei Ding, 38, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret thefts – a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The case against Ding was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco, California, by US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The AG along with other law enforcement officials has repeatedly warned about the threat posed by Chinese economic espionage on the country and the risk that artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies pose to national security.
Google said it had determined that the ex-employee had stolen “numerous documents” and referred the matter to law enforcement.
Ex-Google Engineer Stole AI-Related Information While Secretly Working For Two Chinese Tech Startups
The indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Northern District of California stated that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 as a software developer and deployed to one of its supercomputing data centers in the US, had access to confidential information about the project and began uploading related data into a personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023.
The files were about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that allowed Google’s supercomputing data centers to train large language models (LLMs) through machine learning techniques.
In June 2022, just weeks after Ding began stealing Google secrets, he was approached by the chief executive of a Chinese early-stage AI technology company, Beijing Lianzhi Technology Co. He was offered the position of chief technology officer with a monthly salary of $14,800, plus an annual bonus and company stock.
Sometime before May 2023, he also founded his tech startup in China, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Company, and named himself its CEO. The firm aspired to train “large AI models powered by supercomputing chips”.
Ding Posed as CEO of a Tech Company to Attend Investor Meetings in China
Allegedly, Ding attended several investor meetings in China as the CEO of Zhisuan while remaining a Google employee and sought to raise capital for it. According to the indictment, Google was unaware of his affiliation with Lianzhi or Zhisuan.
He resigned from Google on December 26, 2023. It was only three days after he left the company that Google officials learned Ding had presented himself as CEO of a Chinese AI startup at an investor conference held in Beijing.
After reviewing surveillance footage at the supercomputer data center where he was placed, officials found out that another employee had scanned Ding’s access card at the building to make it seem like he was there during times he was actually in China.
The Mountain View, California-based company suspended Ding’s network access, locked his laptop, and conducted a search of his network activity history. This was when the company found out that he made unauthorized uploads between May 2022 and May 2023.
FBI Found More Than 500 Confidential Files on Ding’s Computer, He Faces 10 Years In Prison
Google immediately referred the case to law enforcement. In January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) served a search warrant at Ding’s home in Newark and seized his electronic devices.
An additional warrant was issued for searching the contents of his accounts, which contained more than 500 files of confidential information belonging to Google that he had stolen.
In a press statement, FBI director Christopher Wray said that the charges against Ding are the latest illustration of the lengths China would to go to steal American innovation.
He also warned that the theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.
The Justice Department has been sounding warning alarms in recent weeks about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively affect the US, especially by interfering in presidential elections.
Just last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the federal government’s multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would place AI at the top of its enforcement priority list.
Ding, whom Google referred to as a junior employee, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if found guilty of his crimes and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.
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