Editing Google (section)

=== 2024 ===
In March 2024, a former Google [[Software engineering|software engineer]] and [[China|Chinese]] national, Linwei Ding, was accused of stealing confidential artificial intelligence information from the company and handing it to Chinese corporations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2024 |title=Ex-Google engineer charged with stealing AI trade secrets while working with Chinese companies |url=https://apnews.com/article/china-google-justice-department-63156ade1e564d15d92adbef91e9c5da |access-date=May 5, 2024 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Ding had allegedly stolen over 500 files from the company over the course of 5 years, having been hired in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lucas |first=Ryan |date=March 6, 2024 |title=Chinese national arrested and charged with stealing AI trade secrets from Google |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1236380984/china-google-fbi-ai |website=npr.org}}</ref> Upon discovering Ding had been in contact with Chinese state-owned companies, Google notified the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], who carried on the investigation.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Vlamis |first1=Kelsey |last2=Barr |first2=Alistair |title=A Google engineer ran a secret startup in China while stealing AI technology, DOJ alleges |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-ran-secret-startup-china-stealing-ai-tech-doj-2024-3 |access-date=May 5, 2024 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>

In May 2024, a misconfiguration in Google Cloud led to the accidental deletion of [[UniSuper]]'s $135 billion Australian pension fund account, affecting over half a million members who were unable to access their accounts for a week. The outage, attributed to a cloud service error and not a cyberattack, prompted a joint apology from UniSuper and Google Cloud executives, who assured members that no personal data was compromised and restoration efforts were underway.<ref>{{Cite news |author1=Ted Litchfield |date=May 18, 2024 |title=Always keep backups: an 'unprecedented' Google Cloud debacle saw a $135 billion pension fund's entire account deleted and services knocked out for nearly two weeks |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/always-keep-backups-an-unprecedented-google-cloud-debacle-saw-a-dollar135-billion-pension-funds-entire-account-deleted-and-services-knocked-out-for-nearly-two-weeks/ |access-date=May 21, 2024 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref>

In August 2024, Google sent an email to users informing them of its legal obligation to disclose certain confidential information to U.S. government authorities. The company stated that when it receives valid requests from government agencies to produce documents without redacting confidential customer information, it may produce such documents even if they are confidential to users. However, it will request confidential treatment of such information from the government.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 6, 2024 |title=Google says it is obligated to disclose confidential information of users to U.S. government - TargetTrend |work=TargetTrend |url=https://targettrend.com/google-says-it-is-obligated-to-disclose-confidential-information-of-users-to-u-s-government/ |access-date=August 7, 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2024, [[Competition and Markets Authority]] (CMA) provisionally found that Google engaged in anti-competitive practices in the online advertising technology market, potentially harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers. The investigation claimed Google used its market power to prevent rivals from competing fairly, affecting billions spent on digital ads. Google rejected the findings as flawed, stating its ad tech benefits businesses. If found guilty, Google could face penalties of up to 10% of its global turnover. Similar investigations are ongoing in the U.S. and EU, where regulators have suggested that Google may need to sell part of its ad-tech business.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vallance |first=Chris |title=Google abusing ad tech dominance, UK competition watchdog finds |date=September 6, 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80en9nvlp9o |website=BBC News |access-date=September 9, 2024}}</ref>