A federal jury found a former Google engineer guilty of stealing artificial intelligence (AI) trade secrets and spying for Chinese tech companies, ending a high-profile Silicon Valley trial. Prosecutors alleged Ding secretly stole proprietary AI-related data from Google while working with companies linked to the People’s Republic of China. The stolen information involved Google’s proprietary hardware and software systems used to power AI workloads, including custom chips and networking technology. Federal prosecutors said Ding began copying sensitive internal Google documents in May 2022 and transferred files to personal cloud accounts while disguising the activity to avoid security systems. The indictment also accused Ding of misleading investors by claiming he could replicate Google’s AI supercomputing technology.