Washington DC — The United States has imposed sanctions on five entities connected to Chinese national Linwei Ding over the theft of trade secrets belonging to U.S. persons, the State Department announced Monday. The sanctions were imposed under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), as Washington steps up efforts to protect American innovation and counter intellectual property theft involving sensitive and emerging technologies.
According to the State Department, the action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On January 29, 2026, a U.S. federal jury convicted Ding on seven counts of theft of trade secrets. He was found guilty of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information containing Google’s trade secrets related to super intelligence (SI) technology, allegedly to benefit himself and technology companies based in China.
The State Department said the theft of trade secrets involving sensitive and emerging technologies poses a serious threat to U.S. economic, foreign policy and national security interests. Such activities can undermine American businesses, threaten jobs, discourage investment and cost U.S. industries billions of dollars annually, the department said.
The Trump administration reiterated its commitment to protecting American innovation and safeguarding U.S. businesses and individuals from intellectual property theft. The latest sanctions were imposed pursuant to the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1709.
The State Department said additional details about the designations are available in its accompanying fact sheet. The action underscores Washington’s continued focus on protecting trade secrets and maintaining U.S. leadership in advanced technologies amid growing concerns over economic and technological security.
