Ex-Google engineer found guilty of stealing AI secrets for China; Axios, February 2, 2026

 Rebecca Falconer, Axios; Ex-Google engineer found guilty of stealing AI secrets for China

"A former Google engineer was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of confidential AI technology for the benefit of China's government, the FBI said Monday.

Why it matters: Intelligence and defense officials have long warned of increased efforts by Beijing and others to obtain U.S. intellectual property and use AI against American interests.

State of play: A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets, per an FBI post on X Monday."

[Podcast] Trade Secrets: Protection and Defense; Fish & Richardson, March 26, 2020

[Podcast] Leeron Kalay, Seth Sproul, Katie Prescott, Fish & Richardson; Trade Secrets: Protection and Defense

"Trade secrets derive economic value primarily from being unknown by others. But to establish the existence of a protectable trade secret, companies must demonstrate that they have taken reasonable steps to maintain the secrecy of the information in question. A robust trade secret strategy can both protect a company’s trade secrets while also allowing it to defend itself from accusations of trade secret theft. Companies must consider this strategy at all times, including:

• When recruiting and hiring new employees
• When handling employee departures
• When collaborating with business partners and prospects

In this webinar, Fish attorneys Katherine Prescott, Leeron Kalay, and Seth Sproul discuss how to craft a trade secret strategy that protects your company from accusations of trade secret theft while also protecting your company’s trade secrets.

Click the link to download a copy of the webinar slides.

Presenters: Leeron Kalay, Seth Sproul, Katie Prescott"

FBI Agent Points to Need for Protecting Intellectual Property From Theft; KTIC Radio, August 22, 2018

Chris Clayton DTN Ag Policy Editor, KTIC Radio; FBI Agent Points to Need for Protecting Intellectual Property From Theft

"HIGH-PROFILE AG THEFTS

Agriculture has seen its share of high-profile thefts, some coming out of labs, while others come right out of cornfields. Nichols pointed to the case of Mo Hailong, who was sentenced in 2016 to three years in federal prison for stealing biotech corn seeds from DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto in the Midwest.

As DTN has reported in the past, before Hailong was caught, FBI agents said he shipped over 340 pounds of corn seeds from Iowa to his home in Florida. Authorities aren’t certain where the seeds went from there, but it was easy to conclude the seeds were sent to China. The FBI also recorded some of Hailong’s phone calls back to China, in which he and a Chinese plant breeder talked about “using the foreigners’ technology to beat them.” Citing the need to boost biotechnology in China, one of Hailong’s co-conspirators said, “There is a serious need for a national hero.”"