Economic Espionage

A federal judge denied a motion for acquittal or a new trial for Linwei Ding, a former Google software engineer convicted of stealing trade secrets related to Google’s artificial intelligence technology for Chinese companies. The judge ruled that the government provided sufficient evidence to prove Ding’s intent to benefit himself and a Chinese company by stealing proprietary information, upholding the jury’s conviction on 14 counts of theft and economic espionage.

A US congressional committee highlighted concerns that China is engaging in economic espionage to steal artificial intelligence advancements, with the Chinese military poised to benefit. The House Select Committee on China addressed how China has undercut US economic strength through intellectual property theft and influence operations at state and local levels.

A federal judge expressed skepticism about economic espionage charges against a former Google software engineer accused of stealing AI trade secrets for Chinese companies, questioning whether intent to benefit China was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge highlighted a disconnect between the defendant's actions in 2022-2023 and evidence of his intent to collaborate with Chinese entities in 2023.

Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco on fourteen counts including economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. Ding allegedly stole thousands of pages of confidential information related to Google's artificial intelligence technology to benefit the People's Republic of China.

Ji Wang, a 63-year-old fiber laser expert from Painted Post, New York, has been convicted by a federal jury on charges of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. The conviction includes two counts of economic espionage, one count of theft of trade secrets, one count of attempted economic espionage, and one count of attempted theft of trade secrets.

John Harold Rogers, a former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, was arrested and indicted on charges of economic espionage for allegedly conspiring to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets on behalf of the People's Republic of China.

FBI Director Christopher Wray convened intelligence chiefs from Five Eyes partnership nations on October 17 to discuss threats to global innovation. Wray identified the Chinese Communist Party as the foremost threat to innovation and emphasized that international partnerships are essential to combat economic espionage.