WASHINGTON (AP) — A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while he secretly worked with two China-based companies, the Justice Department said Wednesday .
Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of theft of federal trade secrets, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The case against Ding, 38, was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement officials repeatedly guards against the threat of Chinese economic espionage and against the national security challenges posed by the progress made. in artificial intelligence and other technologies in development.
“Today’s charges are the latest illustration of efforts by affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China to steal American innovation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “The theft of innovative technologies and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating consequences for the economy and national security. »
Google said it determined the employee had stolen “numerous documents” and took the matter to law enforcement.
“We have strict safeguards in place to prevent the theft of our confidential business information and trade secrets,” Google spokesman José Castaneda said in a statement. “After investigation, we found that this employee had stolen numerous documents and we quickly brought the matter to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping to protect our information and will continue to cooperate closely with them.
An attorney appointed as Ding’s defense attorney had no comment Wednesday evening.
Artificial intelligence is the main battleground for high-tech competitors, and the question of who dominates can have major business and security implications. In recent weeks, Justice Department leaders have sounded the alarm about how foreign adversaries could exploit AI technologies to negatively impact the United States.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a speech last month that the administration’s multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would put AI at the top of its list of enforcement priorities, and Wray told a conference last week that AI and other emerging technologies had made it easier for adversaries to attempt to interfere with the U.S. political process.
Garland echoed those concerns at the San Francisco event, saying Wednesday that “as with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pros and cons, pros and cons, great promise and a risk of great damage. »
The indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 and had access to confidential information about the company’s supercomputing data centers, began downloading hundreds of files on a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.
Weeks after the theft began, prosecutors say, Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at a tech startup in China that touted its use of AI technology and offered him a monthly salary of approximately $14,800, plus an annual bonus. and company shares. The indictment says Ding traveled to China and attended investor meetings at the company and sought to raise capital for it.
He also separately founded and ran a China-based startup that aspired to train “large AI models powered by supercomputing chips,” the indictment says.
Prosecutors say Ding revealed no affiliation with Google, which described him Wednesday as a junior employee.
He resigned from Google on December 26.
Three days later, Google officials learned that he had introduced himself as CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing. Officials also reviewed surveillance footage showing that another employee scanned Ding’s access badge to the Google building in the United States where he worked to make it appear that Ding was there at times when he was in China, the indictment states.
Google suspended Ding’s network access and locked his laptop, and discovered his unauthorized downloads by searching his network activity history.
In January, the FBI executed a search warrant at Ding’s home and seized his electronic devices, then executed an additional warrant for the contents of his personal accounts containing more than 500 unique files of confidential information that authorities claim he stole to Google.
