Google Sues Ex-Employee For Stealing, Leaking Company Secrets

Google has filed a lawsuit against a former employee accusing him of stealing confidential company information related to its chip designs and leaking it online. The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court on Tuesday, claims that Harshit Roy, who worked at Google from 2020 to 2024 as an engineer, shared sensitive documents about Google Pixel devices on social media platforms X and LinkedIn.

Mr Roy took photographs of internal Google documents, including specifications for Pixel processing chips, before resigning from his position in February 2024, the complaint said. He reportedly moved from Bangalore to Austin, Texas, later that year to pursue a doctorate programme at the University of Texas.

The tech giant alleges that Mr Roy posted these confidential materials, along with "subversive text" that defied the terms of his confidentiality agreement. The posts, including images of trade secrets, were accompanied by provocative statements such as, "Don't expect me to adhere to any confidentiality agreement," and "I need to take unethical means to get what I am entitled to" and "remember that empires fall and so will you."

Google claims that Mr Roy ignored multiple takedown requests and continued to share its trade secrets on social media, even tagging competitors like Apple and Qualcomm. Several media outlets have reportedly published articles using the leaked information.

"We found that this former employee stole numerous documents, and we're pursuing legal action against them for the repeated and unauthorised disclosure of confidential company information," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told Reuters. "This behaviour is something we will simply not tolerate."

The company has asked the court for monetary damages and an order to prevent Mr Roy from using or disclosing its proprietary information. On Wednesday, a judge granted Google a temporary restraining order, barring Mr Roy from further sharing confidential details, as per reports.