Industrial espionage: Google employee is said to have stolen secret AI files

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Google Visitor Center in Mountain View: More than 500 files on private accounts

Photo: Eric Risberg / AP

A new case of economic espionage is causing a stir in the USA.

It's about artificial intelligence, closely guarded know-how - and the rivalry with China.

The focus is on a former Google software engineer who is suspected of stealing the company's trade secrets in the field of artificial intelligence.

According to Google, 38-year-old Linwei Ding is said to have stolen numerous documents, as the AP news agency reported.

Accordingly, the US Department of Justice has indicted the defendant because it accuses him of secretly passing on company secrets to two companies based in China.

Ding is said to have secretly worked for them while he was employed at Google.

On Wednesday, Ding was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of theft of trade secrets, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Each of the offenses can be punished with up to 10 years in prison.

Google thanks the FBI

"Today's indictments are the latest example of how far subsidiaries of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

"The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating consequences for the economy and national security."

The charges stem from a complaint and a previous internal investigation by Google.

"We have strict security measures in place to prevent theft of our confidential business information and trade secrets," Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement.

"We are grateful to the FBI for their help in protecting our information and will continue to work closely with them."

Worked at Google, founded a company in China

Ding has worked at Google since 2019 and had access to confidential information about the company's data centers.

According to the indictment, he began uploading files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

A few weeks after the series of thefts began, Ding was offered the position of Chief Technology Officer at a young technology company in China for a monthly salary of around $15,000 plus an annual bonus and company shares.

The accused is also said to have traveled to China and attended the company's investor meetings.

Finally, on December 26th last year, Ding quit his job at Google.

Three days later, Google learned that he had appeared at an investor conference in Beijing as CEO of one of the Chinese companies.

Meanwhile, a colleague used his access pass to create the impression that Ding had shown up for work when he was actually in China.

Laptop locked

After the discovery, Google blocked Ding's network access and his laptop and discovered the unauthorized uploads.

The FBI searched Ding's home in January and seized his electronic devices.

Investigators later found more than 500 individual files in his personal accounts containing confidential information that authorities say he stole from Google.

mic/AP