Ex-Google engineer booked for stealing secret AI chip technology for Chinese startup

Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding has been sentenced to nearly a year in prison after a US court found him guilty of stealing confidential technology linked to Google’s AI infrastructure. 

According to a Reuters report, the case involves sensitive details of the company’s hardware and software systems used to train large AI models, including its custom AI chips. Prosecutors said Ding secretly transferred hundreds of confidential files while working at Google and later became involved with Chinese technology ventures. 

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The case comes as the US and China compete over advanced AI capabilities, highlighting the growing importance of protecting intellectual property as companies race to build increasingly powerful AI infrastructure.

What Ding took from Google

Ding transferred information covering Google’s infrastructure and software for training large AI models, including its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), GPUs, chip communication systems and software coordinating thousands of chips into supercomputers. The material also included details of Google’s custom SmartNIC networking technology.

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Prosecutors said he uploaded more than 500 confidential files to a personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023. A later indictment alleged more than 1,000 unique files, with evidence involving more than 2,000 pages. He downloaded the material to his personal computer in December 2023, shortly before leaving Google.

China links and Zhisuan

Ding joined Google as a software engineer in 2019. While still employed, prosecutors said he became involved with Chinese technology company Rongshu, which offered him a chief technology officer role.

In 2023, he founded Zhisuan, a China-based technology company proposing to train large AI models. Prosecutors said documents indicated plans to replicate and upgrade Google’s large-scale computing platform for China's needs. Ding also applied for a Chinese government-sponsored talent programme.

However, the judge found that the evidence did not establish Ding knew or intended his actions to benefit the Chinese government during the relevant period.

Prison sentence and AI race

US District Judge Vince Chhabria sentenced Ding to 12 months minus one day, followed by two years of supervised release. He must also pay more than $189,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine. His seven trade-secret theft convictions remained in place after the economic-espionage counts were set aside.

The case comes as US restrictions limit China’s access to advanced GPUs, while Chinese companies increasingly explore domestic chip alternatives.