Security News > 2024 > March > Google engineer caught stealing AI tech secrets for Chinese firms

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the unsealing of an indictment against Linwei Ding, 38, a former software engineer at Google, suspected of stealing Google AI trade secrets for Chinese companies.

The allegedly stolen trade secrets involve crucial technology underpinning Google's advanced supercomputing data centers, which are essential for training and hosting large AI models capable of processing nuanced language and generating intelligent responses.

The DOJ says Ding started working as a software engineer at Google in 2019 and began uploading proprietary data to a personal Google Cloud account on May 21, 2022.

Ding copied Google source files into Apple Notes on his Google-issued laptop to conceal his actions and converted them into PDF files before uploading them to his Google Cloud account.

According to the indictment, Ding transferred the files containing confidential information to China, specifically an AI company he affiliated with by taking up the position of Chief Technology Officer and a second firm he founded named Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co. Ding did not inform Google about his affiliations with these companies and failed to disclose his travels to participate in investor meetings in China.

Even after Google detected the unauthorized data transfer activity, Ding responded by lying to a firm's investigator, alleging that he uploaded files to his personal account to use as evidence of the work he conducted at the firm.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-engineer-caught-stealing-ai-tech-secrets-for-chinese-firms/