United States v. Linwei Ding

United States v. Linwei Ding was a federal economic espionage case in which Linwei Ding (also known as Leon Ding), a Chinese national and former Google software engineer, was convicted of stealing trade secrets related to the company's artificial intelligence supercomputing infrastructure for the benefit of the People's Republic of China. The case resulted in the first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges in the history of the United States.

United States v. Linwei Ding

Date	May 2022 - December 2023 (theft of trade secrets)
Location	Mountain View, California (Google headquarters); Newark, California (Ding's residence)
Type	Economic espionage, trade secret theft
Motive	Financial gain; development of competing AI ventures in China
Target	Google artificial intelligence infrastructure trade secrets
Perpetrator	Linwei Ding (Leon Ding)
Outcome	Convicted on all 14 counts; sentencing pending
Inquiries	Federal Bureau of Investigation; Disruptive Technology Strike Force
Arrests	6 March 2024
Charges	7 counts of economic espionage (18 U.S.C. § 1831); 7 counts of theft of trade secrets (18 U.S.C. § 1832)
Trial	January 2026, United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Verdict	Guilty on all 14 counts
Sentence	Pending; faces up to 15 years per espionage count and 10 years per theft count

Between May 2022 and December 2023, while employed at Google, Ding uploaded more than 1,000 unique files containing over 2,000 pages of confidential information about Google's proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, graphics processing unit (GPU) systems, and the software architecture used to orchestrate thousands of chips into supercomputers capable of training large AI models. During this period, Ding secretly served as chief technology officer of a China-based AI startup and founded a second AI company in China, telling investors he could replicate Google's technology. He also applied for a Chinese government-sponsored "talent plan" in Shanghai, pledging to help China develop AI capabilities "on par with the international level".

Ding was arrested at his home in Newark, California, on 6 March 2024 and initially charged with four counts of trade secret theft. A superseding indictment filed in February 2025 expanded the charges to 14 counts. On 29 January 2026, following an 11-day trial before US District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California, a federal jury convicted Ding on all counts: seven of economic espionage and seven of theft of trade secrets. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for each economic espionage count and 10 years for each trade secret count, along with potential fines of up to $5 million per espionage count.

Background

Ding's employment at Google

Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was hired by Google in May 2019 as a software engineer. He was assigned to work on the company's supercomputing data centres, which are used to train and deploy advanced AI models. In that role, Ding had access to confidential information about Google's hardware infrastructure and the software platforms that enable the company's AI capabilities. The trade secrets he accessed concerned the architecture and functionality of Google's custom-designed Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, including the v4 and v6 versions, as well as the company's GPU systems, the software enabling the chips to communicate and execute tasks, the software that orchestrates thousands of chips into supercomputers, and Google's custom-designed SmartNIC, a network interface card used for high-speed communication within Google's AI supercomputers and cloud networking products.

Google's TPU chips power many of the company's AI workloads and, in conjunction with Nvidia GPUs, are used to train and run models such as Gemini. Some of the stolen chip designs were intended to give Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a competitive edge over cloud computing rivals Amazon and Microsoft, which design their own AI chips, and to reduce Google's reliance on Nvidia hardware.

Disruptive Technology Strike Force

Ding's case was coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency initiative created in 2023 by the Biden administration to counter the theft of critical technologies, including artificial intelligence, by foreign adversaries. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco had stated in February 2024 that protecting AI was "at the very top" of law enforcement's priority list, describing it as "the ultimate disruptive technology".

Theft of trade secrets

Uploading confidential files

According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Ding began uploading trade secrets from Google's network to his personal Google Cloud account on 21 May 2022. He continued the theft through May 2023, amassing more than 1,000 unique files totalling approximately 14,000 pages, of which 105 documents formed the core of the criminal case. In December 2023, less than two weeks before he resigned from Google, Ding downloaded the stolen trade secrets to his personal computer.

Prosecutors alleged that Ding took measures to evade detection. He copied data from Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook laptop and then converted the notes into PDF files, a method designed to bypass Google's data loss prevention systems.

Secret affiliations with Chinese companies

While still employed at Google, Ding secretly affiliated himself with two technology companies based in China. In June 2022, within weeks of beginning the theft, Ding received an offer to serve as chief technology officer of an early-stage technology company in Beijing that highlighted its use of AI technology. The company offered him a monthly salary of approximately $14,800, plus an annual bonus and company stock. Ding owned 20% of the company's equity. Between October 2022 and March 2023, Ding travelled to China to participate in investor meetings and raise capital for the company. A marketing document distributed to investors stated that the company intended to "replicate and upgrade" Google's computing platform and "further develop a computational power platform suited to China's national condition".

By May 2023, Ding had founded a second technology company in China focused on AI and machine learning, in which he acted as chief executive officer. He did not disclose either affiliation to Google. In late 2023, Ding applied for a government-sponsored Chinese "talent plan" in Shanghai aimed at attracting overseas experts. In his application, he pledged to help China build computing infrastructure "on par with the international level".

Evidence presented at trial showed that Ding intended to benefit entities controlled by the Chinese government by assisting with the development of an AI supercomputer and collaborating on the research and development of custom machine learning chips.

Concealment and discovery

To conceal his activities, Ding enlisted the help of another Google employee, who scanned Ding's access badge at Google's US offices to create the impression that Ding was present while he was actually in China attending investor conferences.

On 8 December 2023, Google investigators questioned Ding about the unauthorised uploads. He told them he had transferred the files to his personal account to use as examples of his work, and assured the company he was not planning to leave. Less than a week later, however, Ding booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing and then resigned from Google on 26 December 2023. Three days after his resignation, Google officials learned that Ding had presented himself as CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing. Google then suspended his network access, locked his laptop, and discovered the full scope of his unauthorised uploads while reviewing his network activity history.

Arrest and indictment

The FBI executed search warrants at Ding's home in Newark, California, on 6 and 13 January 2024, seizing his electronic devices. Agents discovered an account containing more than 500 unique files of confidential Google information. Ding was arrested on 6 March 2024 at his Newark home and charged in a four-count indictment with theft of trade secrets, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The indictment was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who stated: "The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk." FBI Director Christopher Wray said: "Today's charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation."

Google confirmed it had referred the case to law enforcement after discovering the theft. Spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated: "We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement."

A superseding indictment was returned on 4 February 2025, expanding the charges to 14 counts: seven of economic espionage under 18 U.S.C. § 1831 and seven of theft of trade secrets under 18 U.S.C. § 1832. The superseding indictment described seven categories of trade secrets stolen by Ding and added the economic espionage charges, which require prosecutors to prove the theft was committed for the benefit of a foreign government. A second superseding indictment was filed in September 2025, further detailing the charges ahead of the trial.

Trial and conviction

The trial took place in January 2026 before US District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California. Over the course of 11 days, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Ding systematically extracted Google's AI trade secrets while simultaneously pursuing commercial ventures aligned with the Chinese government's AI development goals. Prosecutors told the jury that the 105 documents at issue fell into seven categories of trade secrets, all relating to how Google designs, builds, and connects its specialised AI chips. Government expert witnesses testified that the stolen documents would allow their possessor to "skip huge parts of the design process" for an AI supercomputer that Google had spent over 10 years and millions of dollars building.

In closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Molly Priedeman told the jury: "The defendant wanted more from himself than what his knowledge and experience could get him, so he stole, cheated, and lied." She noted that the timeline of Ding's document copying aligned with his startup activities: when potential investors in China sought more technical details, Ding would upload additional Google documents.

Defence attorney Grant Fondo of Goodwin Procter argued that Ding had never sold, used, or transferred the stolen information and that Google had failed to adequately protect its documents. He told the jury that many of the 105 documents were accessible to over 160,000 Google employees and contractors, that some had no confidentiality notices, and that the company's confidentiality rating system was incoherent. "Google chose openness over security," Fondo argued, contending that documents available to such a wide audience could not meet the legal definition of a trade secret. Fondo also argued that prosecutors had failed to prove Ding intended to use the documents to benefit his company or China: "He never used them, he never transferred them, he never tried to sell them. The government is asking you to speculate." After the verdict, Fondo said: "We respect the jury's verdict, but we are obviously disappointed."

On 29 January 2026, after approximately three hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Ding on all 14 counts. US Attorney Craig H. Missakian stated that the jury had "delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished" and that authorities would "vigorously protect American intellectual capital". Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg described the case as exposing "a calculated breach of trust involving some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development".

FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division stated: "In today's high-stakes race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the U.S. and his employer by stealing trade secrets about Google's AI technology on behalf of China's government. Not only does this case mark the first-ever conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, but it also demonstrates the FBI's unwavering dedication to protecting American businesses."

Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, stated: "We're grateful to the jury for making sure justice was served today, sending a clear message that stealing trade secrets has serious consequences."

Judge Chhabria ordered Ding released pending sentencing, determining he was not a flight risk. A status conference was scheduled for 3 February 2026. Ding faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for each economic espionage count and 10 years for each trade secret count, amounting to a theoretical combined maximum of 175 years, as well as potential fines of $5 million per espionage count and $250,000 per trade secret count.

Significance

The conviction was widely described as a landmark in the intersection of artificial intelligence, national security, and intellectual property law. It marked the first time economic espionage charges related to AI technology had resulted in a conviction in the United States.

FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani stated that "the theft and misuse of advanced artificial intelligence technology for the benefit of the People's Republic of China threatens our technological edge and economic competitiveness" and highlighted the case as demonstrating "the strength of collaboration between the FBI and the private sector, including leading companies like Google, whose partnership is critical to protecting sensitive U.S. technology".

The case was situated within a broader context of US-China competition over AI dominance. Amid an ongoing AI arms race and US government efforts to restrict China's access to advanced semiconductor technology through export controls, some Chinese companies had turned to alternative means of acquiring AI capabilities. In late 2023, intelligence chiefs of the Five Eyes alliance warned US technology companies about the risk of intellectual property theft related to AI, quantum computing, and robotics by entities linked to China. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told CNBC around the time of the verdict that Chinese AI models might be "a matter of months" behind US models, underscoring the competitive stakes.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the conviction came "amid an explosion of investment into artificial intelligence and machine learning, which experts say have become major drivers of recent U.S. economic growth". CNBC reported that the case represented the first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges in the United States. The German cybersecurity publication BornCity noted that the stolen documents were not peripheral materials but "the blueprints for Google's competitive advantage: the detailed architectural plans for its own AI supercomputers", representing technology that had taken years and billions of dollars to develop. The case attracted extensive international media coverage, including from The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Hill, The Register, Ars Technica, the Indian Express, and other outlets across multiple languages.

See also

• Chinese espionage in the United States
• Economic espionage
• Tensor Processing Unit
• Google
• AI arms race
• Five Eyes
• Export control