Ex-Google engineer’s conviction for stealing AI secrets partially overturned

WILMINGTON, Delaware: A federal judge on Thursday tossed part of the conviction of former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, who was found guilty earlier this year of stealing AI trade secrets from the U.S. tech giant to benefit two Chinese companies.

U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled there was insufficient evidence Ding intended or knew his ‌conduct would benefit ⁠the government ⁠of China, a requirement to convict him on seven counts of economic espionage. Chhabria said evidence supported the guilty verdict on the theft of trade secrets.