Economic Espionage Conviction Overturned, Theft Convictions Remain

A U.S. district judge, Vince Chhabria, overturned seven counts of economic espionage against Linwei Ding, a former Google engineer, ruling there was insufficient evidence that Ding intended to benefit the Chinese government. The convictions for seven related counts of theft of trade secrets remain intact, with sentencing for those charges scheduled for September 1, 2026. The case centers on allegedly stolen Google data related to AI hardware and software infrastructure, including chip designs used to train advanced AI models. The rulings highlight the evidentiary challenge of proving intent to aid a foreign government while leaving intact the theft-of-trade-secrets convictions that carry separate penalties. The ongoing proceedings underscore the broader risk companies face in protecting proprietary AI technology from insider threats and theft.