US Sanctions Five Chinese Entities Over Google AI Theft

The United States Department of State imposed sanctions on Monday, October 19, 2026, against five Chinese companies and investment entities involved in the theft of Google's artificial intelligence trade secrets. The action was taken under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act to address threats to national security and economic competitiveness.

The sanctions target Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co Ltd and the Beijing-based venture capital firm MiraclePlus, along with three related entities. Shanghai Zhisuan Technology was founded by Linwei Ding, a former Google engineer who was convicted by a federal jury in January on seven counts of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information. While Ding was convicted of theft to benefit himself and Chinese firms, he was acquitted of economic espionage charges because the jury found insufficient evidence of intent to benefit the Chinese government.

MiraclePlus provided seed funding to Shanghai Zhisuan Technology in exchange for an ownership stake. The sanctioned company used the stolen technology to promote software designed to accelerate machine-learning workloads. The investigation leading to these sanctions and Ding's conviction was conducted by the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.