A former Google software engineer has been convicted in the United States for stealing more than 2,000 confidential documents tied to the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, marking one of the most significant AI-related economic espionage cases to date.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was found guilty by a federal jury on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors said the stolen material was intended to benefit companies linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Thousands of Confidential AI Documents Taken
According to court records, Ding unlawfully transferred proprietary Google data from internal systems to his personal cloud account while employed at the company. The documents contained sensitive technical details underpinning Google’s AI operations, including its large-scale computing infrastructure used to train and deploy advanced machine learning models.
The stolen materials covered a wide range of protected technologies, such as:
- The architecture and operation of Google’s custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and GPU-based systems
- Software used to coordinate and execute workloads across thousands of AI accelerator chips
- Cluster management tools that power Google’s AI supercomputing environments
- Custom networking components, including SmartNIC technology designed for high-speed data transfer in AI data centers
Federal prosecutors said the theft occurred between May 2022 and April 2023, while Ding was still working at Google, where he had been employed since 2019.
Links to China-Based AI Ventures
Investigators revealed that Ding maintained undisclosed ties to multiple technology companies in China during his tenure at Google. These included discussions about becoming chief technology officer of an early-stage Chinese firm and the founding of his own AI-focused startup, Shanghai Zhisuan Technologies Co., in 2023.
Less than two weeks before resigning from Google, Ding allegedly downloaded a large volume of sensitive files to his work laptop. Prosecutors said he later attempted to obscure the theft by copying source code and documentation into personal note files, converting them into PDFs, and uploading them to his private cloud account.
Efforts to Conceal Activities
The case also detailed multiple attempts by Ding to avoid detection. Authorities accused him of asking a colleague to use his company-issued badge to access Google offices on his behalf, creating the impression that he was physically present in the U.S. while he was traveling in China.
The scheme reportedly unraveled after Google learned Ding had delivered a public presentation in China promoting his startup to potential investors, raising concerns about misuse of proprietary information.
Talent Programs and Espionage Charges
A superseding indictment filed in 2025 further alleged that Ding applied to a Beijing-backed talent recruitment program, which prosecutors described as encouraging overseas researchers to transfer advanced technologies to China.
Court filings stated that Ding expressed plans to help China develop computing infrastructure comparable to global leaders and to contribute to the design of AI supercomputers and custom machine learning chips. Prosecutors argued this demonstrated clear intent to benefit entities linked to the Chinese government.
Sentencing Ahead
Ding is scheduled to appear in court for a status conference in early February 2026. He faces up to 10 years in prison for each trade secret theft count and up to 15 years for each economic espionage conviction, potentially resulting in decades behind bars.
U.S. officials said the verdict underscores growing efforts to protect American technological innovation amid intensifying global competition in artificial intelligence.
