Lessons Learned From Prosecution of Google Employee for Theft of Trade Secrets and Espionage

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A recent case involving the theft of technology from Google, U.S. v. Ding, serves as a reminder that companies need to be proactive to prevent trade secret theft. 

The Ding Prosecution

On January 29, 2026, a 12-person jury in San Francisco federal court unanimously convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets.  According to prosecutors, when he was a Google employee Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of proprietary documents containing the company’s artificial intelligence trade secrets from its network seeking to benefit the People’s Republic of China (PRC). 

Ding also secretly affiliated himself with two PRC-based technology companies while he was employed by Google.  Around June 2022, he was in discussions to be the Chief Technology Officer for an early-stage technology company based in the PRC.  By early 2023 he was in the process of founding his own technology company in the PRC, focused on AI and machine learning, and was acting as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. In multiple statements to potential investors, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google’s technology.

In December 2023, less than two weeks before he resigned from Google, Ding allegedly downloaded the stolen trade secrets to his personal Google Cloud account.

The verdict followed an 11-day trial.  Jurors found that Ding stole trade secrets relating to the hardware infrastructure and software platforms that allow Google’s supercomputing data center to train and serve large AI models. Ding faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of theft of trade secrets and 15 years for each count of economic espionage.

Examples of Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are an important part of a company’s intellectual property portfolio—in addition to patents, trademarks, and copyrights.  Trade secrets can include technical information—like the information at issue in the Ding case.  Examples that could constitute a trade secret are:

• Proprietary technical knowledge, skills, or experience;
• Manufacturing processes, procedures, and methods;
• Designs, formulas, research, and analysis; and
• Trials, tests, and products developed to satisfy the needs of customers.

Trade secrets also can include commercial information, such as:

• Lists of customers and prospective customers and their preferences;
• Business plans and opportunities;
• Price lists and pricing strategies; and
• Sales data, training materials, and marketing and distribution approaches.

The unauthorized disclosure or use of trade secrets can result in irreparable harm, including loss of competitive advantage and financial damage.

What is Economic Espionage?

Economic espionage occurs when trade secrets are stolen with the intent to benefit a foreign government or organization.  Theft of proprietary technology, especially when a strategic competitor like China is involved, can be treated by federal law enforcement officials as more than a corporate crime and as a potential national security threat.

Lessons for Employers

Trade secrets are legally protected as long as the information remains secret and the owner takes “reasonable measures” to keep it secure.  Ding’s defense hinged in large part on his claim that the documents he took did not meet the legal definition of a trade secret because Google did not do enough to protect them.

While the jury did not accept Ding’s argument, employers need to make sure they are taking reasonable steps to safeguard proprietary information.  Such steps could include:

• Implementing security measures, including encryption, limiting access to sensitive materials, and security audits;
• Establishing confidentiality policies and requiring employees to sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements; and
• Training employees on how to secure proprietary information and the potential consequences of trade secret theft.

When a misappropriation or threatened misappropriation is discovered, employers must act quickly to assert their rights in order to maximize their potential remedies; moving too slowly can limit if not eliminate some of the legal remedies that can otherwise be available.

To find out more about protecting trade secrets, contact any member of the Maynard Nexsen Labor & Employment Group.