A federal jury in San Francisco this week found former Google software engineer Lingwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of trade secret theft for stealing thousands of pages of confidential information, including Google’s trade secrets related to artificial intelligence technology, for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China. The jury’s verdict came after an 11-day trial before U.S. District Judge Vince Chabria for the Northern District of California.“These convictions expose a calculated breach of trust involving some of the world’s most advanced AI technologies at a critical moment in AI development,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “Mr. Ding abused his privileged access to steal AI trade secrets while promoting business in conjunction with the Chinese government. His duplicity is endangering America’s technological leadership and competitiveness. I commend the outstanding work of the trial team and investigators in bringing this conviction. ”“In today’s high-stakes race for supremacy in the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the United States and his employer by stealing trade secrets about Google’s AI technology on behalf of the Chinese government,” said Roman Rosavsky, deputy director of the FBI’s counterintelligence and espionage division. “This case not only marks the first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, but also demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering dedication to protecting American businesses from the increasingly serious threat China poses to our economy and national security. We remain committed to working closely with our private sector partners to protect our nation’s innovation, protect our trade secrets, and hold our foreign adversaries accountable. ”“Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative efforts that drive economic growth and strengthen national security. Today, the jury sent a clear message that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished. We will vigorously defend America’s intellectual capital from foreign interests seeking to gain unfair competitive advantages while endangering national security.” Craig H. Misakian, Attorney for the Northern District of California;“This conviction strengthens the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting American innovation and national security. The theft and misuse of advanced artificial intelligence technology for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China threatens our nation’s technological advantage and economic competitiveness,” said Sanjay Virmani, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Office. “The FBI San Francisco Division serves the innovation leaders of Silicon Valley and the world, and we are committed to protecting their jobs. This case demonstrates the strength of collaboration between the FBI and the private sector, including major companies like Google, whose partnership is essential to protecting America’s sensitive technology. Today’s ruling confirms that federal law will be enforced to protect our nation’s most valuable technology and hold accountable those who steal it. ”Ding was originally indicted in March 2024. A superseding indictment returned in February 2025 described seven categories of trade secrets stolen by Ding, and charged him with seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of trade secret theft.According to evidence presented at trial, from approximately May 2022 to April 2023, while employed at Google, Mr. Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential information, including Google’s AI trade secrets, from Google’s network and uploaded it to his personal Google Cloud account. Ding also secretly partnered with two China-based technology companies while working at Google. Around June 2022, Ding was in talks to become chief technology officer of an early-stage technology company based in China. By early 2023, Ding had founded his own technology company in China focused on AI and machine learning, and was the company’s CEO. In multiple statements to potential investors, Ding claimed that Google’s technology could be copied and modified to build an AI supercomputer. In December 2023, less than two weeks before he resigned from Google, Ding downloaded stolen Google trade secrets onto his computer.The jury found that Ding stole trade secrets about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that enables Google’s supercomputing data centers to train and service large-scale AI models. The trade secrets included detailed information about Google’s custom Tensor Processing Unit chips and systems, the architecture and capabilities of Google’s Graphics Processing Unit systems, the software that enables chips to communicate and perform tasks, and the software that integrates thousands of chips into supercomputers capable of training and running cutting-edge AI workloads. The trade secret also pertained to Google’s custom-designed SmartNIC, a type of network interface card used to facilitate high-speed communications within Google’s AI supercomputers and cloud networking products.In a presentation to investors, Ding advocated for China’s national policy to prioritize AI development and innovation in China, and in late 2023, Ding applied for a government-sponsored “talent plan” in Shanghai, China. The jury heard evidence regarding the Chinese government’s human resources program encouraging individuals to come to China to contribute to China’s economic and technological growth. Ding’s application for the talent plan says he plans to “help China have computing power infrastructure capabilities on par with the international level.”Evidence at trial also showed that Ding intended to benefit two Chinese government-controlled organizations by helping them develop AI supercomputers and collaborating on research and development of custom machine learning chips.Mr. Ding is next scheduled to appear before the sitting session on February 3, 2026. Mr. Ding faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1832, and up to 15 years in prison for each count of economic espionage, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1831. Any post-conviction sentence will be imposed by the court only after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and sentence. Federal law governing the imposition of judgments, 18 U.S.C. §3553.Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Boom, Molly K. Prideman, and Roland Chan of the Northern District of California are prosecuting this case with assistance from U.S. Attorneys Veronica Hernandez and Trial Attorney Yifei Zhen of the National Security Agency’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Division. The charges are the result of an investigation by the FBI.
