The United States has charged a former Google software engineer on suspicion of stealing trade secrets related to artificial intelligence, as the Chinese national secretly worked for two Chinese companies. BBC.
Linwei Deng, also known as Leon Deng, was charged with four counts in California and was arrested on Wednesday. The Chinese national allegedly stole more than 500 confidential files. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The trade secrets violated by the Chinese software engineer relate to Google's supercomputer data center infrastructure, which is used to store and train large artificial intelligence models.
He was also a technology manager and business owner
According to the indictment, the engineer was working for Google in 2019. He allegedly began uploading information stored on the company's network to his Google account in May 2022. The data was copied at regular intervals for a year.
Meanwhile, the man allegedly spent several months in China working at Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology, a technology startup that contacted the engineer and allegedly offered him $14,800 a month to be the company's CTO.
In addition, the software engineer launched his own technology company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, which focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning, and in which the man, who was still working at Google at the time, appointed himself CEO.
Prosecutors say Ding never told Google about his work at either company. According to the indictment, he reached out to a China-based organization to help him develop his business, which he presented at an investor conference in China in November 2023.
The following month, Google noticed that the engineer attempted to upload several files to his personal computer while in China. When he returned to the US, without Google's knowledge, Ding booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing before resigning from his position at the tech giant on December 26.
Days later, Google learned that the man had attended an investor conference, then blocked his access, but found unauthorized file transfers in his activity log.
The issue may be part of great power competition
Google spokesman Jose Castañeda said the company uses strict safeguards to prevent the theft of its confidential business information and trade secrets, adding that the company quickly notified authorities when it found evidence of a breach.
US Attorney Merrick Garland said in a statement on Wednesday that Linwei Deng acted for the personal gain of companies “seeking an advantage in competing artificial intelligence technology.”
The Department of Justice will not tolerate misappropriation of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could threaten our national security
Garland said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Deng's actions were “the latest example of how Chinese companies are trying to steal American innovation.”
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