Former Google engineer indicted for allegedly stealing AI secrets while stealthily running a startup in China [Video]

WTF?! There’s been another case of a tech worker stealing trade secrets from their employer and handing them over to China-based rivals. Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, aka Leon Ding, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for pilfering confidential AI tech while secretly working for Chinese AI firms. He even launched a startup in his home country without Google realizing.

Ding, a national of the People’s Republic of China residing in Newark, California, has been charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets. The indictment states that he transferred confidential Google information from the company’s network to his personal account while secretly working for two China-based firms within the AI industry.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that Ding is alleged to have stolen over 500 files containing AI trade secrets from Google and intended to pass them on to his Chinese employers who were looking to gain …