Linwei (Leon) Ding, a former Google engineer of Chinese descent, is facing serious economic espionage charges for allegedly stealing proprietary AI technology from Google. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ding uploaded over 1,000 confidential Google files to his own personal Google Cloud account over a span of a year. He worked at Google since 2019 and purportedly had clandestine connections with Chinese tech firms. The indictment accuses him of intending to benefit the Chinese government by disclosing critical trade secrets related to Google’s AI infrastructure, including sensitive data on custom-designed chips like the SmartNIC and Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). Ding allegedly discussed collaborations with a Chinese tech company's CTO and had secretly founded an AI firm in China while acting as its CEO. If convicted, Ding faces up to 175 years in prison and potentially $36.75 million in fines. The ongoing investigation is being pursued by the FBI.

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