Former Google engineer charged with thieving AI tech though secretly performing with Chinese corporations
A previous software engineer at Google has been billed with thieving synthetic intelligence technologies from the company whilst secretly working with two businesses dependent in China, the U.S. Justice Office reported Wednesday.
Linwei Ding, a Chinese countrywide, was arrested in Newark, Calif., on 4 counts of federal trade secret theft, each and every punishable by up to 10 decades in jail.
The circumstance against Ding was getting introduced at an American Bar Association Convention in San Francisco by Legal professional Typical Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has frequently warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national stability fears posed by developments in synthetic intelligence.
“Present-day prices are the most recent illustration of the lengths affiliates of corporations primarily based in the People’s Republic of China are eager to go to steal American innovation,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
“The theft of impressive technological know-how and trade insider secrets from American organizations can value careers and have devastating economic and national protection penalties.”
Ding uploaded data files to personal account: indictment
U.S. Justice Division leaders in current weeks have been sounding alarms about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively have an impact on the United States.
Deputy Attorney Normal Lisa Monaco mentioned in a speech previous thirty day period that the administration’s multi-agency Disruptive Technological know-how Strike Pressure would place AI enforcement at the major of its precedence checklist. Wray explained to business leaders at an function last 7 days that AI and other rising technologies experienced manufactured it much easier for adversaries to try to interfere with the U.S. political method.
A Federal Court docket choose has barred a Chinese engineering pupil from studying in Canada, in excess of fears the engineering scholar could be pressured by his govt into spying. Gurus say there could be far more similar circumstances to appear.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 and had obtain to confidential facts about the firm’s supercomputing info centres, started uploading hundreds of data files into a private Google Cloud account two decades back.
Held exec roles when functioning for Google
Within months of the theft beginning, prosecutors say, Ding was supplied the posture of main know-how officer at an early-stage technologies corporation in China that touted its use of AI know-how. The indictment says Ding traveled to China and participated in investor conferences at the corporation and sought to raise funds for it.
He also independently launched and served as main government of a China-dependent startup enterprise that aspired to practice “big AI designs driven by supercomputing chips,” the indictment mentioned.
Prosecutors say Ding did not disclose both affiliation to Google.
He resigned from the enterprise on Dec. 26. 3 days later on, Google officials discovered that he had introduced as CEO of just one of the Chinese providers at an trader conference in Beijing. Officials also reviewed surveillance displaying that another staff experienced scanned Ding’s entry badge at the building the place he worked to make it look like Ding was there for the duration of situations when he was basically in China, the indictment says.
It was not immediately very clear regardless of whether Ding, 38, had a attorney who could discuss on his behalf.
