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Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding had his economic espionage convictions partially tossed on Thursday, August 20, by a federal judge in San Francisco, according to Reuters reporting. U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence that Ding intended or knew his actions would benefit the government of China, which is a legal requirement for economic espionage charges under U.S. law.
While the economic espionage counts were dismissed, Chhabria upheld the remaining guilty verdict on seven counts of stealing trade secrets. Ding, a Chinese national also known as Leon Ding, was originally convicted in January following an 11-day trial in federal court. Prosecutors accused him of stealing thousands of pages of confidential data concerning the hardware infrastructure and software platforms that power Google’s supercomputing data centers for training large artificial intelligence models.
Legal Repercussions and Sentencing Details
The partial dismissal significantly alters the legal exposure for Ding, who is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, according to court dockets cited by Reuters. Each of the seven economic espionage charges carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine. Meanwhile, each of the seven remaining trade secret theft charges carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
Three weeks after the January trial concluded, defense attorneys filed papers seeking a full acquittal, arguing that the U.S. Justice Department failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, according to court records. Following Thursday’s ruling, an attorney for Ding stated that the legal team was gratified with the decision to overturn the espionage counts. Representatives for the Justice Department and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters and Benzinga.
Origins of the Investigation and Corporate Stakes
According to federal prosecutors, Ding joined Google in May 2019 and initiated the data thefts roughly three years later in May 2022. During the period of the alleged thefts, Ding was being courted by an early-stage Chinese technology company. Investigators stated that the pilfered documents contained critical blueprints for chip infrastructure designed to help Google maintain an edge over cloud computing rivals Amazon.com and Microsoft, while simultaneously reducing the tech giant’s reliance on hardware from Nvidia.
Google cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation and was not charged with any wrongdoing.
Case Comparison and Penalties
| Charge Category | Count Breakdown | Maximum Penalty Per Count |
|---|---|---|
| Economic Espionage (Overturned) | 7 Counts | 15 years prison / $5 million fine |
| Trade Secret Theft (Upheld) | 7 Counts | 10 years prison / $250,000 fine |
With the economic espionage convictions removed, the court will proceed to sentence Ding solely on the remaining trade secret theft convictions at the upcoming September 1 hearing.
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