The US government has imposed sanctions on a Chinese venture firm linked to a former Google engineer convicted of stealing AI trade secrets. The Department of State announced measures against Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co., founded by Ding Linwei, a former Google software engineer who was convicted this year of stealing Google AI technology.
The sanctions also target MiraclePlus, a venture firm established by ex-Microsoft AI scientist Lu Qi, and three of its affiliates. These entities were blacklisted for providing seed financing to Zhisuan. The measures may include freezing US assets and imposing banking restrictions.
MiraclePlus is the successor to a Chinese program originally run by Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator. The sanctions highlight growing tensions between the US and China over technology transfers and intellectual property.