A former Google software engineer has been found guilty in the United States for unlawfully taking thousands of confidential Google documents to support a technology venture in China, according to an announcement made by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday.
Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, aged 38, was convicted by a federal jury on 14 charges—seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors established that Ding illegally copied more than 2,000 internal Google files containing highly sensitive artificial intelligence (AI) trade secrets with the intent of benefiting the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
"Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security," said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian. "We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk."
Ding was initially indicted in March 2024 after investigators discovered that he had transferred proprietary data from Google’s internal systems to his personal Google Cloud account. The materials allegedly stolen included detailed information on Google’s supercomputing data center architecture used to train and run AI models, its Cluster Management System (CMS), and the AI models and applications operating on that infrastructure.
The misappropriated trade secrets reportedly covered several critical technologies, including the design and functionality of Google’s custom Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips and GPU systems, software that enables chip-level communication and task execution, systems that coordinate thousands of chips into AI supercomputers, and SmartNIC technology used for high-speed networking within Google’s AI and cloud platforms.
Authorities stated that the theft occurred over an extended period between May 2022 and April 2023. Ding, who began working at Google in 2019, allegedly maintained undisclosed ties with two China-based technology firms during his employment, one of which was Shanghai Zhisuan Technologies Co., a startup he founded in 2023. Investigators noted that Ding downloaded large volumes of confidential files in December 2023, just days before resigning from the company.
"Around June 2022, Ding was in discussions to be the Chief Technology Officer for an early-stage technology company based in the PRC; by early 2023, Ding was in the process of founding his own technology company in the PRC focused on AI and machine learning and was acting as the company's CEO," the DoJ said.
The case further alleged that Ding attempted to conceal his actions by copying Google source code into the Apple Notes app on his work-issued MacBook, converting the files into PDFs, and uploading them to his personal Google account. Prosecutors also claimed that he asked a colleague to use his access badge to enter a Google facility, creating the false appearance that he was working from the office while he was actually in China.
The investigation reportedly accelerated in late 2023 after Google learned that Ding had delivered a public presentation in China to prospective investors promoting his startup. According to Courthouse News, Ding’s defense attorney Grant Fondo argued that the information could not qualify as trade secrets because it was accessible to a large number of Google employees. "Google chose openness over security," Fonda said.
In a superseding indictment filed in February 2025, Ding was additionally charged with economic espionage, with prosecutors alleging that he applied to a Beijing-backed Shanghai talent program. Such initiatives were described as efforts to recruit overseas researchers to bolster China’s technological and economic development.
"Ding's application for this talent plan stated that he planned to 'help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level,'" the DoJ said. "The evidence at trial also showed that Ding intended to benefit two entities controlled by the government of China by assisting with the development of an AI supercomputer and collaborating on the research and development of custom machine learning chips."
Ding is set to attend a status conference on February 3, 2026. If sentenced to the maximum penalties, he could face up to 10 years in prison for each trade secret theft charge and up to 15 years for each count of economic espionage.