Google engineer is suspected of spying on AI for Chinese companies – 03/07/2024 – Tech

A Chinese software engineer was detained this Wednesday (6) for stealing artificial intelligence (AI) technology from Google while working in secret for two companies in China, said United States Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Linwei Ding, 38, also known as Leon Ding, is charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets, Garland said in a statement.

He added that “the Department of Justice will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could endanger our national security,” the attorney general said in the text.

“We allege that the defendant stole trade secrets related to Google’s artificial intelligence while working in secret for two companies based in China. We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in the United States so that they do not fall into the hands of those who should not have them.” , he added.

According to the indictment, issued on Tuesday (5) and publicly known this Wednesday (6), Google hired Ding in 2019 as a computer engineer and since May 2022, he had started to secretly download commercial secrets stored on the Google network to copy them to your personal Google Cloud account.

“We have strict rules to prevent the theft of our confidential business information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we discovered that this employee had stolen numerous documents and we quickly reported this matter to legal authorities,” José Castañeda, a Google spokesman, told AFP .

In total, the engineer would have saved around 500 unique files with confidential information in the cloud.

“These accusations are the latest example of the lengths to which those affiliated with companies based in the People’s Republic of China will go to steal American innovations,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray, quoted in the text.

The engineer is the target of four counts of theft of industrial secrets, each with a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a fine of US$250,000 (R$1.23 million), according to the Department of Justice.