A U.S. federal judge has partially overturned the conviction of former Google engineer Linwei Ding, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove he intended or knew his actions would benefit the Chinese government.
Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was convicted in January on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of trade-secret theft after prosecutors accused him of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information related to Google’s AI infrastructure.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria dismissed the economic espionage counts but allowed the trade-secret theft convictions to stand, finding that evidence supported the conclusion that Ding unlawfully took confidential technology.
The information involved Google’s data-center hardware and software systems used to train large AI models, including chip designs intended to strengthen the company’s position against rivals such as Amazon and Microsoft and reduce dependence on Nvidia hardware.
The ruling significantly reduces Ding’s potential legal exposure. Economic espionage charges can carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison per count, while trade-secret theft charges carry lower maximum sentences.
Ding is currently scheduled to be sentenced on September 1.
