U.S. sanctions five Chinese firms linked to Google AI trade secret theft

The U.S. State Department announced sanctions against five Chinese entities after a federal jury convicted Linwei Ding of stealing Google’s artificial-intelligence supercomputing trade secrets. The designated firms include Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co Ltd, Qiji Chuangtan Beijing Investment Management Co Ltd (known as MiraclePlus), and three venture-capital partnerships linked to MiraclePlus. Investigators from the Justice Department and FBI determined that Ding used the stolen documents to benefit Zhisuan and its investors.

The sanctions block the entities’ assets in the United States, limit their ability to obtain credit, and prohibit certain currency and banking transactions. State Department spokesman Thomas "Tommy" Pigott said the theft threatens U.S. economic and national-security interests. Ding received a 12-month prison sentence, though a judge later acquitted him of economic-espionage charges.