On Wednesday, the Justice Department charged a former Google software engineer with stealing AI trade secrets while working with two Chinese companies.Newark, California, detained Chinese native Linwei Ding on four federal trade secret theft counts, each punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the case against Ding, 38, at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco. Garland and other law enforcement leaders have repeatedly warned about Chinese economic espionage and national security threats from AI and other emerging technologies.
“Today’s charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People’s Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray stated.
The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.”Google reported the employee to police for stealing “numerous documents”.
“We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said. An inquiry discovered this employee stole many documents, therefore we called police. We appreciate and will continue to work with the FBI to protect our data.”
The competition for artificial intelligence is a key business and security issue for high-tech companies. Justice Department executives have warned of foreign adversaries using AI to harm the US in recent weeks.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the administration's multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force will regulate AI last month, while Wray told a conference last week that AI and other new technologies had made foreign influence easier.
Garland said Wednesday in San Francisco, “As with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise and the risk of great harm.”
Ding, who joined Google in 2019 and had access to supercomputing data center information, uploaded hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago, according to a Wednesday Northern District of California indictment.
Prosecutors allege Ding became chief technology officer of an early-stage Chinese AI startup and received $14,800 per month, an annual bonus, and company shares weeks after the crime. According to the accusation, Ding collected funds from Chinese investors.
Ding, who joined Google in 2019 and had access to supercomputing data center information, uploaded hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago, according to a Wednesday Northern District of California indictment.
The indictment said he founded and maintained a China-based firm to train “large AI models powered by supercomputing chips.”Google termed Ding a junior employee Wednesday, but prosecutors claim he did not reveal either affiliation.He left Google Dec. 26.
Google stated he presented as Chinese firm CEO at a Beijing investment conference three days later. Indictment film shows a Google employee scanning Ding's access badge at his U.S. office while he was in China. Google blocked Ding's laptop and network for unlawful uploads.