A former Google engineer was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of confidential AI technology for the benefit of China's government, the FBI said Monday. Why it matters: Intelligence and defense officials have long warned of increased efforts by Beijing and others to obtain U.S. intellectual property and use AI against American interests . State of play A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets, per an FBI post on X Monday. - Ding was accused of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information containing Google's trade secrets related to artificial intelligence technology and sharing them with two…
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it secured a 14-count conviction against former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, for conducting economic espionage and stealing trade secrets on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).WHO WAS INVOLVED: Linwei Ding, also known as Leon […] The post Former Google Engineer Convicted of Spying for China. appeared first on The National Pulse .
PULSE POINTS WHAT HAPPENED: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it secured a 14-count conviction against former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, for conducting economic espionage and stealing trade secrets on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). WHO WAS INVOLVED: Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding; the DOJ, Google, and the CCP. WHEN & WHERE: Ding was convicted on 14 counts of economic espionage and stealing trade secrets on Thursday, January 29, 2026. KEY QUOTE: “In multiple statements to potential investors, Ding claimed that he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google’s technology. In December 2023 , less than two weeks before he resigned…Open