Former Google Employee Arrested For Stealing AI Secrets For China

A former employee of Google has been arrested and charged for stealing Artificial Intelligence secrets while working for two Chinese companies.

The US attorney general, Merrick Garland said the suspect named Linwei Ding as a software engineer who was secretly recruited by two Chinese tech firms to steal AI secrets from Google.

Corporate Espionage

The BBC report suggests that Mr. Ding was arrested from California on charges of four counts of theft of trade secrets.

The Chinese national allegedly transferred confidential information to his personal account while secretly working for two Chinese tech firms.

“The justice department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies,” Garland said in a statement.

Ding Was Hired By Google in 2019

According to the court documents, Mr Ding was hired by Google back in 2019 as a software engineer.

The suspect began downloading sensitive Google information into a personal cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023.

Later a Chinese tech firm called Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co (Rongshu) approached Ding and recruited him, paying him a hefty salary. 

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