Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, has been sentenced to nearly one year in federal prison after being convicted of stealing confidential technology tied to Google’s artificial intelligence infrastructure.
US District Judge Vince Chhabria sentenced Ding on September 1 in San Francisco to 12 months minus one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $189,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
Credits: NDTV Profit
Who Is Linwei Ding?
Ding is a Chinese national who moved to the United States in 2010 to pursue a master’s degree. He later worked at several Silicon Valley technology companies before joining Google as a software engineer in 2019.
His position gave him access to highly sensitive information involving the hardware and software powering Google’s AI supercomputing systems. Ding became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2021.
The technology he could access was particularly valuable as the AI industry entered an increasingly competitive race to build larger and faster computing systems.
What Technology Did He Steal?
The case focused on Google’s proprietary infrastructure for large-scale AI computing.
According to the US Department of Justice, the stolen material included information about Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and GPU systems, as well as software responsible for connecting chips and coordinating thousands of processors into supercomputers capable of training and running advanced AI models.
The information also covered Google’s custom-designed SmartNIC, a networking component used in its AI supercomputers and cloud networking products.
In other words, the material allegedly taken by Ding was not simply information about a single chip. It involved some of the underlying technology that allows massive AI computing systems to operate.
How Did Ding Take the Information?
Prosecutors alleged that Ding began transferring confidential Google files to his personal Google Cloud account in May 2022.
The transfers reportedly continued until May 2023. A superseding indictment filed in 2025 alleged that Ding uploaded more than 1,000 unique confidential files from Google’s network.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence involving more than 2,000 pages of confidential information that Ding had taken from Google. The DOJ also alleged that, in December 2023, shortly before leaving the company, he downloaded the stolen material onto his personal computer.
Prosecutors described the activity as deliberate and systematic rather than accidental.
Alleged Links to China
The case became even more significant because prosecutors alleged that Ding was pursuing business opportunities in China while still employed by Google.
Around June 2022, he was reportedly in discussions to become chief technology officer of an early-stage Chinese technology company.
Prosecutors also alleged that Ding attempted to conceal some of his activities from Google. According to KQED, while pitching his own venture in China, he arranged for an intern to use his Google ID badge to make it appear that he was working from Google’s office.
The government argued that access to Google’s proprietary AI technology could give Ding and companies associated with him an unfair advantage in China’s rapidly developing AI industry.
Economic Espionage Convictions Were Thrown Out
Ding’s legal case took a major turn in August 2026.
A San Francisco jury had convicted him in January on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets following an 11-day trial.
However, Judge Chhabria later overturned the seven economic espionage convictions. The judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove that Ding knew his actions would benefit the Chinese government.
The seven trade-secret convictions remained intact, forming the basis for his September sentencing.
Credits: The Guardian
Why Did Ding Receive Prison Time?
At sentencing, Chhabria said the standard sentencing range of zero to six months did not adequately capture the seriousness of Ding’s conduct.
The judge characterized the theft as a systematic and brazen attempt to take Google’s property, rejecting Ding’s request for a sentence of three months of home confinement.
Ding’s lawyers had argued that he had already suffered substantial professional and personal consequences and was the primary caregiver for his eight-year-old son.
The judge nevertheless concluded that a non-custodial sentence would not sufficiently reflect the offence or provide an adequate deterrent.
Ding will now serve nearly a year in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
The case highlights how valuable AI infrastructure has become—and why companies such as Google are treating access to advanced computing technology as a critical security issue. As the global AI race intensifies, the battle over proprietary chips, networking systems and the software connecting them is becoming almost as important as the AI models themselves.
