Google has filed a lawsuit against Harshit Roy, a former engineer, accusing him of leaking confidential details about its Pixel chip designs. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, claims Roy stole trade secrets, shared them publicly, and made threatening statements about the company on social media.
Roy’s Role at Google
Roy joined Google in 2020 as a semiconductor engineer in Bengaluru, India, working on system-on-chip (SoC) designs for Pixel devices. These chips power smartphones, tablets, and wearables in Google’s hardware lineup. The lawsuit alleges Roy began photographing sensitive information from his work computer in late 2023, despite signing a confidentiality agreement when hired.
According to Google, Roy assured the company he had deleted the images after the issue was flagged, even providing evidence of their removal. However, after resigning in March 2024 to attend a doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, he allegedly took his work laptop without authorization and began sharing confidential company documents on social media.
Confidential Files Posted Online
In August 2024, Roy started posting Pixel chip specifications and internal Google documents on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, accompanied by statements such as, “Don’t expect me to adhere to any confidentiality agreement,” and “Empires fall, and so will you.” Google’s lawsuit claims he tagged competitors like Apple and Qualcomm to maximize the damage caused by the leaks.
The posts reportedly included a link to a folder containing 158 photographs of internal Google files. These documents revealed proprietary details about the SoC’s unique strengths and challenges, including design flaws the chips aim to resolve in Pixel devices. News outlets later picked up and reported on the leaked information.
Google Attempts to Prevent Further Leaks
Google says it made several attempts to resolve the issue amicably. Representatives contacted Roy, including a visit to his university campus, to persuade him to stop sharing the information. However, the posts continued into October, prompting the company to seek legal action.
In the lawsuit, Google requested monetary damages and an injunction to prevent Roy from further sharing or using its trade secrets. The company emphasized its zero-tolerance policy for such breaches. “This behavior is something we will simply not tolerate,” said Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda.
Roy has continued to publicly criticize Google, accusing the company of unethical practices and mistreatment of employees. In a recent LinkedIn post, he wrote, “A case that goes undefended does not count as a victory. I’ll see you in court soon. #Fraud.”
The case, Google LLC v. Roy, highlights the risks of intellectual property theft and the challenges tech companies face in safeguarding proprietary information.
Featured Image courtesy of David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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