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A California federal jury on Thursday delivered a swift and sweeping verdict in the Ex-Google Engineer AI Secrets theft suit, finding former Google software engineer Linwei Ding guilty on all 14 criminal counts tied to the theft of artificial intelligence trade secrets and economic espionage.

The unanimous decision by the 12-member jury came after less than three hours of deliberations, capping a 10-day trial that prosecutors framed as a high-stakes battle over the crown jewels of U.S. artificial intelligence innovation.

Jury Convicts on All Counts

Ding, 39, was convicted of seven counts of trade secret theft and seven counts of economic espionage, matching every charge brought by federal prosecutors. Authorities alleged that the stolen information was intended to benefit Ding personally and advance technology interests in China.

Ding worked at Google from 2019 through the end of 2023 and was arrested in 2024.

Thousands of Pages, Dozens of Secrets

According to prosecutors, beginning in May 2022, Ding transferred more than 14,000 pages of internal Google documents to his personal computer. The cache allegedly included 105 trade secrets tied to Google’s supercomputing data centers—systems essential for training and operating large language models.

The information spanned highly sensitive areas, from custom-designed chips to cloud networking software architecture, forming what prosecutors described as a technical roadmap competitors could exploit.

Parallel Careers in China

As the data transfers were underway, Ding joined Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co. Ltd. as its chief technology officer. He later departed to launch his own artificial intelligence supercomputing venture, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co. Ltd., in November 2022.

Google said it only became aware of Ding’s China-based activities a year later, when Ding was introduced as Zhisuan’s CEO at an investor conference in Beijing in November 2023.

Defense Pushes Back on Value of Data

Ding did not testify in his own defense. His legal team rested its case Tuesday after calling a technical expert who told jurors the documents would not enable anyone to replicate Google’s technology and carried limited competitive value.

That argument failed to persuade the jury.

The trial formally began Jan. 12.

Reactions After the Verdict

Ding declined to comment after the verdict was read. His attorney, Grant Fondo of Goodwin Procter LLP, said the defense respects the jury but is disappointed by the outcome.

Federal prosecutors also declined to comment.

The government’s case was led by Martha Boersch, Casey Boome, Molly K. Priedeman and Roland Chang of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

Ding’s defense team includes Grant P. Fondo, Farzad Feyzi, Darryl M. Woo, Rachel M. Walsh, Jessica Huang Fuzellier, Nicholas C. Wiley, Colette A. Lowry, Lora Krsulich and David Rapp-Kirshner of Goodwin Procter LLP.

As the Ex-Google Engineer AI Secrets theft suit closes this chapter, the verdict underscores growing federal scrutiny over the flow of sensitive AI technology—where lines of code can carry the weight of national strategy.