Former Google employee Linwei Ding has been arrested and charged with stealing Google's TPU and GPU secrets. The 38-year-old Chinese national was employed by Google as a software engineer from May 2019 until January 2024. However, in his brief spell at the U.S. tech giant, Ding is thought to have stolen more than 500 confidential files containing information about Google's AI technology. The indictment alleges four counts of trade secrets theft, covering areas such as TPU development, GPU deployments and specs, software design for machine learning, and more.
Stealing secret documents is bad enough, but during his employment at Google, investigations reveal that Ding also started working as the CTO of a Beijing AI startup called Rongshu. Moreover, he founded his own machine learning company in Shanghai in May 2023, becoming the CEO of Zhisuan. Working at these rival companies in overlapping technology areas seems to trample all over Ding's solemnly signed Google Employment Agreement and the firm's code of conduct. Last but not least, AI technology is protected on national security grounds.
