DOJ (source): Former Google Engineer Found Guilty Of Economic Espionage And Theft Of Confidential AI Technology (11 points, 1 day ago, 2 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46830373

Reuters: Ex-Google engineer convicted of stealing AI secrets for Chinese companies (8 points, 2 days ago, 1 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46819602

NYT: Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing A.I. Secrets for Startup in China (5 points, 2 days ago, 2 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46818408

Related:

2025: Chinese national accused of stealing AI secrets from Google facing new charges (6 points) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42986838

2024: Linwei Ding was a Google software engineer. Also an alledged prolific thief (37 points, 7 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39961488

2024: Google engineer indicted for stealing AI secrets to aid Chinese companies (93 points, 3 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39622842

The conviction of Linwei Ding, the former Google engineer who stole thousands of pages of confidential AI technology secrets to aid Chinese-linked companies—including one he founded—serves as a sobering reminder of how ambition, pressure, and divided loyalties can lead even talented individuals down destructive paths. While the breach of trust and potential harm to innovation and national security are serious and warrant accountability, it's worth pausing to recognize the human complexity behind such acts: a 38-year-old immigrant professional navigating intense global competition in AI, perhaps driven by dreams of building something transformative back home, only to cross ethical and legal lines that now threaten decades of freedom and reputation. True justice here isn't just punishment but also reflection on the broader systems—corporate security gaps, geopolitical tensions, and personal incentives—that allow these tragedies to unfold, urging us toward safeguards that protect progress without turning every talented mind into a suspected adversary.