A former software engineer at Google has been convicted of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China, the U.S. Department of Justice said. A federal jury on Thursday convicted Linwei Ding, 38, of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets after an 11-day trial in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. He told potential investors that he could build an AI supercomputer by copying Google’s technology, court documents state. Ding downloaded the trade secrets to his personal computer less than two weeks before he resigned from Google in December 2023, prosecutors said. “We’re grateful to the jury for making sure justice was served today, sending a clear message that stealing trade secrets has serious consequences.” Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president of regulatory affairs for Google, said in a statement.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 31, 2026 14:31 UTC