Earlier this year, the US Justice Department charged Ding, 38, with stealing trade secrets from Google. Prosecutors said he had uploaded more than 500 files related to Google’s artificial intelligence technology to a personal account in an attempt to launch his own companies in China.
“We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them,” Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, vowed.
Ding has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.