What just happened? The latest trade secrets case in Silicon Valley focuses on Google's proprietary Tensor processor, the chip platform that powers the company's Pixel smartphones. Federal prosecutors have charged two former Google engineers and a third collaborator with stealing confidential technical files related to the processors and attempting to conceal their actions.
Unsealed in the Northern District of California, the 14-count indictment names Samaneh Ghandali, 41, her sister Soroor Ghandali, 32, and Samaneh's husband, Mohammadjavad Khosravi, 40. All three are Iranian nationals.
Prosecutors allege that the defendants conspired to misappropriate sensitive hardware data from Google's internal systems while working or interning for the company's chip engineering team in Silicon Valley.
According to Justice Department filings, Samaneh Ghandali was employed as a hardware engineer. During her tenure, investigators say she sent more than 300 files, including internal materials described as trade secrets, to a communications service based outside the United States.
The indictment also states that her sister Soroor, who interned at Google, transferred 34 additional files through the same external channel. Prosecutors claim that the defendants intended to deliver the data to third parties, although the documents do not specify whether that actually occurred.
Khosravi, who never worked for Google but reportedly applied to the company multiple times, was employed by another technology firm. Authorities contend he participated in destroying evidence and aided in coordinating file transfers tied to the breach.
Google said it detected the unauthorized downloads through its internal security systems. That discovery, according to the company, led to its referral of the incident to federal authorities. FBI investigators tracked the data movements to build the case.
In a statement, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company has implemented additional safeguards since the breach and continues to collaborate with law enforcement.
The defendants were arrested on Thursday and appeared in a federal courtroom in San Jose. If convicted on all charges – including conspiracy, theft of trade secrets, and destruction of evidence – they could face 20-year prison sentences.
The case, United States v. Ghandali, 26-cr-00071, underscores the growing legal risks associated with intellectual property theft in advanced chip design. With custom processors such as Google's Tensor central to modern machine learning capabilities, confidential design data has become an especially valuable target.