Lessons Learned From Prosecution of Google Employee for Theft of Trade Secrets and Espionage

Source:www.jdsupra.com

Background of Case

On January 29, 2026, a federal jury in San Francisco convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets.  He was accused of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information containing Google’s trade secrets related to artificial intelligence technology for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The jury’s verdict followed an 11-day trial.

According to the evidence presented at trial, when he was a Google employee Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential information containing the company’s AI trade secrets from its network and uploaded them to his personal Google Cloud account.

Ding also secretly affiliated himself with two PRC-based technology companies while he was employed by Google.  Around June 2022, he was in discussions to be the Chief Technology Officer for an early-stage technology company based in the PRC.  By early 2023, he was in the process of founding his own technology company in the PRC focused on AI and machine learning and was acting as the company’s CEO. In multiple statements to potential investors, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google’s technology.

In December 2023, less than two weeks before he resigned from Google, Ding downloaded the stolen trade secrets to his own personal computer.

The jury found that Ding stole trade secrets relating to the hardware infrastructure and software platforms that allow Google’s supercomputing data center to train and serve large AI models. Ding faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and 15 years in prison for each count of economic espionage.

What is Economic Espionage?

Economic espionage occurs when trade secrets are stolen with the intent to benefit a foreign government or organization.  Theft of strategically sensitive technologies, especially when a foreign adversary is involved, is treated by federal officials not only as corporate misconduct, but also as a potential national security concern.

Importance of Trade Secret Protection

Trade secrets are a vital component of a company's intellectual property portfolio.  They include both technical information, such as information concerning manufacturing processes, pharmaceutical test data, designs, and drawings of computer programs, and commercial information, such as distribution methods, list of suppliers and clients, and advertising strategies, among other things.  The unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of this information can have very negative consequences for businesses, including loss of competitive advantage, financial damage, and reputational harm.

Lessons for Employers

The Google case serves as a reminder that companies need to be proactive to prevent trade secret theft. Trade secrets are legally protected as long as the information remains secret and the owner takes reasonable steps to keep it secure.  Such steps include implementing security measures, limiting access to sensitive materials, and monitoring internal data transfers.  Additional steps include enacting trade secret policies and requiring employees to sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.

When a misappropriation or threatened misappropriation is discovered, employers must act quickly to assert their rights in order to maximize their potential remedies; moving too slowly can limit if not eliminate some of the remedies that may otherwise be available.

Source:www.jdsupra.com