A federal court in San Francisco found former Google engineer Linwei Din guilty of stealing commercial trade secrets related to artificial intelligence for the benefit of Chinese corporations. Din, a 38-year-old Chinese national, began appropriating confidential information concerning Google’s hardware and software infrastructure approximately three years after joining the company in 2019.
Prosecutors stated that Din unlawfully removed thousands of pages of documentation detailing proprietary developments in microchip design and platform architecture. This information provided Google with significant competitive advantages over major technology rivals, including Amazon and Microsoft, according to the court filings reported by ua.news.
Each count of economic espionage carries a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison, alongside substantial financial fines, based on the indictment details. Din is currently awaiting further sentencing proceedings following the conviction.
The case was managed by a specialized interagency task force established in 2023. This task force focuses specifically on combating technological espionage and intellectual property theft targeting critical American technology sectors.
The conviction underscores the escalating international tensions surrounding technological supremacy, particularly in advanced fields like AI hardware and foundational software development. Such incidents often trigger heightened scrutiny over employee movement and data access protocols within major research institutions.
Globally, this verdict sends a strong signal regarding the enforcement priorities of US authorities concerning the protection of intellectual property in strategic industries. The ongoing legal review will determine the full extent of the penalties imposed on the former engineer.
