Ex-Google engineers accused of stealing Tensor chip trade secrets

Three individuals, including two former Google employees, have been charged in the US over alleged theft of trade secrets linked to Google’s Tensor chip development. The indictment was recently unsealed in federal court under the case USA v. Ghandali (26-cr-00071). Also Read: These AI Tools Can Save You Hours Every Week

According to court documents cited by Bloomberg, the three face 14 felony counts. The indictment lists charges of conspiracy, theft of trade secrets, and destruction of evidence. Also Read: Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro takes aim at GPT-5 and Claude Opus 4.6: What’s new in the AI model?

Who has been charged

The two former Google employees named in the case are Samaneh Ghandali and Soroor Ghandali. Samaneh previously worked as a hardware engineer at Google, while Soroor served as an intern at the company. Both later joined other technology firms.

The third individual charged is Mohammadjavad Khosravi, who is Samaneh’s husband. He did not work at Google but had reportedly applied to the company multiple times. At the time of the alleged offences, he was employed at a different tech firm.

Allegations linked to Tensor chips

The case centres on trade secrets related to Google’s Tensor chips, which power the company’s Pixel smartphones. While the indictment does not publicly specify what information was allegedly taken, it relates to confidential work tied to Tensor development.

Google introduced its in-house Tensor chips to give its Pixel devices tighter integration between hardware and AI features. Protecting internal design details, chip architecture, and performance data is considered critical, especially as competition in the semiconductor and smartphone space continues to grow.

In a statement shared with media outlets, a Google spokesperson said the company had strengthened its internal safeguards after discovering the incident and had alerted law enforcement. The spokesperson added that the indictments represent an important step toward accountability.

Not the first Tensor-related case

This is not the first time confidential information linked to Tensor chips has surfaced. Back in 2024, a slide deck containing details about what later became the Tensor G5 and a future Tensor G6 chip had surfaced online. Google later took legal action against the person linked to that leak.

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This case is different, though. It involves criminal charges and also includes allegations of destroying evidence. If the accused are found guilty, the consequences could be more serious. According to reports, the most serious charges could carry significant prison time under US law.