A Chinese citizen who once worked as a software engineer for Google in California was convicted on Thursday of stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company to help him create a start-up in Beijing.

因涉嫌從谷歌公司竊取人工智慧技術用於北京創業項目，一名曾在谷歌擔任軟體工程師的中國公民於週四被裁定有罪。

A 12-person jury in San Francisco federal court found Linwei Ding, who was part of a team that designed and maintained Google’s A.I. supercomputer data system, guilty of seven counts of trade secrets theft and seven counts of economic espionage. The verdict followed an 11-day trial.

舊金山聯邦法院的12人陪審團認定，參與谷歌人工智慧超級計算機數據系統設計與維護團隊的丁林葳犯有七項盜竊商業祕密罪和七項經濟間諜罪。該裁決是在為期11天的庭審後作出的。

Mr. Ding could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of trade secret theft and 15 years for each count of economic espionage.

丁林葳或將面臨每項盜竊商業祕密罪最高10年、每項經濟間諜罪最高15年的刑期。

The case is one of several that has surfaced in recent years against Chinese nationals in the United States as tensions between the two countries have intensified over a struggle for technologic supremacy. The U.S. attorney’s office has also brought separate cases against two former Apple engineers; one involves the theft of data and another the theft of secrets from the company’s self-driving car program.

近年來，中美圍繞技術主導權的競爭加劇，此案是這一背景下美國對多名在美中國公民提起的類似訴訟之一。美國檢方還分別對兩名前蘋果公司工程師提起了訴訟，其中一案涉及數據盜竊，另一案涉及竊取該公司自動駕駛汽車項目的機密。

Mr. Ding, who began working for Google in early 2019, quit suddenly in January 2024 — after booking a one-way ticket to Beijing. He was arrested three months later.

丁林葳於2019年初入職谷歌，在2024年1月突然辭職——此前他已預訂了一張前往北京的單程機票。三個月後，他被逮捕。

During the trial this month in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, the government presented evidence that Mr. Ding, who was known as Leon, stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential company information in 2022 and 2023. Mr. Ding pulled the files from Google’s network and uploaded them to his personal Google Cloud account, the government said. He then pitched investors on funding a start-up that would build an A.I. supercomputer based on Google’s technology, according to the government.

在本月於加州北區聯邦地區法院進行的審理中，檢方提交的證據顯示，英文名「Leon」的丁林葳在2022年和2023年間竊取了超過2000頁公司機密資料。檢方稱，他從谷歌內部網路下載這些文件，並上傳至個人的谷歌雲帳戶。隨後，他向投資者推介一個基於谷歌技術構建人工智慧超級計算機的創業項目，尋求融資。

Mr. Ding applied for a program sponsored by the Chinese government known as a talent plan in Shanghai, according to evidence presented during the trial. In the application, he said that he planned to “help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level.”

庭審證據表明，丁林葳曾申請上海市的政府人才計劃。他在申請材料中表示，計劃"助力中國擁有與國際水平相當的算力基礎設施能力"。

Mr. Ding’s lawyer, Grant Fondo of Goodwin Procter, said they were disappointed by the jury’s decision.

丁林葳的辯護律師、古德溫律師事務所的格蘭特·豐多表示對陪審團的裁決感到失望。

U.S. attorneys and Google praised the jury, saying the verdict showed the U.S. legal system protects companies against theft.

美國檢方和谷歌方面則對陪審團的決定表示讚賞，稱該裁決表明美國法律體系能夠保護企業免受技術盜竊侵害。

“The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished,” the U.S. attorney, Craig H. Missakian, said in a statement.

美國檢察官克雷格·米薩基安在聲明中指出：「今天，陪審團清楚地傳遞了一個信息——竊取此類寶貴技術的行為必將受到懲處。」

Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement: “We’re grateful to the jury for making sure justice was served today.”

谷歌負責監管事務的副總裁李-安妮·馬爾霍蘭在聲明中表示：「感謝陪審團今日維護了公正。」