A Chinese citizen was detained in the United States on suspicion of stealing information tied to artificial intelligence from Google, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, Lingwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national residing in California, moved confidential Google trade secrets and other AI-related data to his personal cloud storage. The plan, as alleged, was to later transfer these materials covertly from China to entities conducting AI research in the same field. In total, the defendant is said to have obtained about 500 confidential files.
“Today’s charges illustrate the lengths to which some subsidiaries of China-based companies will go to steal American innovations,” stated FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The theft of innovative technologies and trade secrets from American firms can cause job losses and have serious economic and national security consequences.”
Records indicate that Linwei Ding had been employed as a software engineer at Google since 2019 and had unlawfully collaborated with two Chinese AI-focused companies.
If convicted, the individual faces up to 10 years in prison and a potential fine of up to $1 million.
The press release from the Department of Justice stressed that guilt has not yet been established in court.
Separately, on March 6, neural networks demonstrated the ability to infer a person’s gender based on brain activity with approximately 90 percent accuracy.
Additionally, on March 2, an expert highlighted three significant shifts expected to shape daily life as artificial intelligence continues to advance.
There were reports of a model featured on the cover of Playboy, created by a neural network.