Chinese national indicted for theft of Google AI secrets

The Justice Department on Wednesday charged Chinese national Linwei Ding with covertly transferring Google’s proprietary artificial intelligence information to two Chinese government-affiliated companies—one of which he founded. Authorities arrested Ding on Wednesday morning in Newark, Calif.

How did Ding conduct this alleged theft?  The Justice Department said that Ding transferred sensitive information to his personal account—more than 500 unique files, per videotaped remarks from U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey. But Ramsey made clear that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty, and that an indictment is merely a set of allegations.

Why does this theft matter? U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the United States would not tolerate the theft of technology that could threaten U.S. national security. It comes after the Biden administration signaled impending crackdowns on the sale of Chinese-made advanced automobiles in the United States.

But should artificial intelligence be proprietary?  Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk earlier this month filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT creator OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. He accused the company of violating its founding charter, and said he and other investors want artificial intelligence to be open to the public for the benefit of everyone, not owned by companies for the profit of their owners. OpenAI says it is seeking to use artificial intelligence in a way that “benefits all of humanity.” The company has also published many redacted emails between Musk and company officials.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on the Doubletake podcast about the Chinese government’s organ harvesting of dissidents, and those seeking to discuss it further.