Home / Crime and Justice / Judge Nixes Part of Ex-Google AI Theft Conviction
Judge Nixes Part of Ex-Google AI Theft Conviction
21 Aug
Summary
- Federal judge overturned part of ex-Google engineer's conviction.
- Insufficient evidence existed to prove intent to benefit China.
- Guilty verdict on theft of trade secrets remains intact.
A federal judge has partially overturned the conviction of Linwei Ding, a former Google software engineer found guilty of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets. The ruling, issued on Thursday, August 20, 2026, by U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria, impacts seven counts of economic espionage.
Judge Chhabria stated that there was insufficient evidence to prove Ding intended for his actions to benefit the government of China. This specific intent is a requirement for an economic espionage conviction.
Despite this decision, the judge affirmed the guilty verdict on charges related to the theft of trade secrets. This means Ding remains convicted of unlawfully taking confidential information from Google, with the stolen secrets allegedly intended for two Chinese companies.
