Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California
A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, a former Google software engineer, on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. The verdict was delivered after an 11-day trial overseen by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
Prosecutors presented evidence that between May 2022 and April 2023, while employed at Google, Ding stole more than two thousand pages of confidential information containing Google's artificial intelligence (AI) trade secrets. He uploaded these documents to his personal Google Cloud account. During this period, Ding was also involved with two technology companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In June 2022, he discussed becoming Chief Technology Officer for an early-stage PRC company. By early 2023, he was founding his own AI and machine learning company in the PRC and acting as its CEO.
In statements to potential investors, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google’s technology. In December 2023, shortly before resigning from Google, he downloaded the stolen trade secrets to his personal computer.
The jury determined that the stolen information related to hardware infrastructure and software platforms enabling Google's supercomputing data center to train and serve large AI models. This included details about custom Tensor Processing Unit chips and systems, Graphics Processing Unit systems, communication software for these chips, orchestration software for large-scale AI workloads, and SmartNIC network interface cards used within Google's AI supercomputers.
Ding's presentations to investors referenced PRC national policies promoting AI development. In late 2023, he applied for a government-sponsored “talent plan” in Shanghai aimed at attracting individuals to contribute to China's technological growth. His application stated an intention to help China achieve computing power infrastructure capabilities comparable to international standards. Evidence showed that Ding intended to benefit two entities controlled by the Chinese government through his work on developing an AI supercomputer and collaborating on custom machine learning chip research.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian commented on the case: “Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security. The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished. We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani added: “This conviction reinforces the FBI’s steadfast 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 technological edge and economic competitiveness... Today’s verdict affirms that federal law will be enforced to protect our nation’s most valuable technologies and hold those who steal them accountable.”
Ding is scheduled for a status conference on February 3, 2026. He faces up to ten years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets under 18 U.S.C. § 1832 and up to fifteen years for each count of economic espionage under 18 U.S.C § 1831. Sentencing will be determined by the court following consideration of federal guidelines.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Boome, Molly K. Priedeman, and Roland Chang with assistance from Veronica Hernandez and the National Security Division after an investigation conducted by the FBI.
