Though he lived in Silicon Valley, Linwei Ding spent months at a time in his native China, according to court papers.
Nothing unusual about that — except that he was supposed to be working full time as a software engineer in Google’s San Francisco-area offices.
Court records say he had others badge him into Google buildings, making it appear as if he were coming to work. In fact, prosecutors say, he was marketing himself to Chinese companies as an expert in artificial intelligence — while stealing 500 files containing some of Google’s most important AI secrets.
Ding, whose home was searched by the FBI days before prosecutors say he was to board a one-way flight to China, was arrested in March and is now facing federal felony charges. He has pleaded not guilty. His case illustrates what American officials say is an ongoing nightmare for U.S. economic and national security: Some of America’s most prominent tech firms have had their virtual pockets picked by Chinese corporate spies and intelligence agencies.
Days after the Ding case was announced, prosecutors charged the owners of a Chinese company with conspiring to steal battery secrets from Tesla. This week, a government cybersecurity board ripped Microsoft for an “inadequate security culture” and a “cascade … of avoidable errors” that allowed Chinese intelligence hackers to compromise the company’s email software and gain access to the accounts of the U.S. commerce secretary.
In February, the Justice Department charged a Chinese engineer with stealing missile-tracking technology from a company owned by aerospace giant Boeing. Last year, prosecutors accused a Chinese national of stealing Apple’s self-driving car technology and fleeing to China.
“China’s multipronged assault on our national and economic security make it the defining threat of our generation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress recently. “Today, and literally every day, they’re actively attacking our economic…
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