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Ex-Google engineer accused of pilfering AI confidential data and marketing them to Chinese tech firms
Linwei Ding, an ex-software engineer at Google, is accused of selling more than 500 distinct files of proprietary information from Google to a Chinese firm. While still employed at one of Google's US campuses, Ding accepted a role as a CTO at a tech firm based in China.
On Wednesday, it was disclosed by the Justice Department that Linwei Ding, a previous software engineer at Google who also goes by Leon Ding, has been charged with purportedly pilfering trade secrets related to artificial intelligence from the corporation. Ding, who is originally from China, was arrested in Newark, California and is facing four charges of federal trade secret theft. Each of these charges could potentially lead to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
During an American Bar Association assembly in San Francisco, Attorney General Merrick Garland unveiled the accusations, highlighting continued apprehensions about China's economic spying and the potential threats to national security due to progress in artificial intelligence and other new technologies.
FBI Chief Christopher Wray highlighted the seriousness of the issue, saying, "The charges brought today further demonstrate the extreme measures associates of firms rooted in the People's Republic of China are ready to take to pilfer American ingenuity." Wray stressed the negative effects of this kind of theft on the American workforce, as well as its substantial economic and national security implications.
Google declared that they had detected an employee's theft of several documents and immediately reported the incident to the police.
Google's representative, Jose Castaneda, has stated that the firm has robust safeguards in place to avoid any unauthorized release of its sensitive business data and proprietary secrets. Castaneda underlined that after conducting a probe, it was found that an employee had illegally acquired several documents, leading Google to immediately contact the authorities. He expressed his thanks to the FBI for their help in protecting Google's data and reaffirmed the company's dedication to continuous cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
In the high-tech competitive sphere, artificial intelligence acts as a main battleground for competitors, carrying considerable consequences for both business prosperity and safety.
The charges revealed on Wednesday in California's Northern District accuse Linwei Ding, a Google employee since 2019 with access to confidential details about the company's high-performance computing centers, of initiating an unauthorized transfer of hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account two years prior.
Prosecutors state that soon after the theft began, Linwei Ding was proposed the role of chief technology officer at an emerging tech firm in China. The company emphasized its employment of AI technology and lured Ding with a monthly income of about $14,800, in addition to a yearly bonus and shares in the company.
The charges detail that Ding made a trip to China, participated in company investor meetings, and made efforts to obtain funding for its activities. Moreover, he set up and took on the position of CEO at a different startup in China, which is centered around training extensive AI models using supercomputing chips.
Significantly, Ding kept his association with these Chinese firms hidden from Google. This information came to light when it was discovered during an investigation that he was a low-ranking employee. Ding ended his employment with Google on December 26th.
Google authorities found out soon after he left that Ding had posed as the CEO of a Chinese firm at a Beijing investor meeting merely three days later. Additionally, security camera evidence showed that another worker was using Ding's access card at Google's US office to make it seem like Ding was there, when in reality, he was in China.
After finding these inconsistencies, Google revoked Ding's network privileges, remotely secured his laptop, and commenced an examination of his past network activities. Later in January, the FBI carried out a search warrant at Ding's home, confiscating his electronic gadgets. A different warrant was also issued to access Ding's personal accounts, which disclosed the existence of over 500 distinct confidential files supposedly pilfered from Google.
(Incorporating information from various sources)
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