As the prospect of AI-powered robots arises as a main technological component of the future, a fierce business war is being waged between the various players in the field.
Now, it arises that Elon Muskโs Tesla is suing one of its former engineers โfor allegedly stealing trade secretsโ related to its Optimus humanoid robot.
Tesla sued a former engineer with the companyโs highly secretive Optimus program, accusing him of stealing confidential information about the humanoid robot and setting up a rival startup https://t.co/Ge4ZrPbQ8N pic.twitter.com/tqUuMISpge
โ ๆตท็ฟ (@guolinwang) June 12, 2025
New York Post reported:
โThe defendant is Zhongjie โJayโ Li, who cofounded the humanoid robot startup Proception Inc. after working at Tesla from Aug. 2022 to Sept. 2024, according to the complaint filed in San Francisco federal court on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges Li, who worked on โadvanced robotic hand sensorsโand was entrusted with some of the most sensitive technical data in the programโ, downloaded Optimus files onto two smartphones.โ
Li started his company โProceptionโ less than a week after leaving Tesla. He claimed to have built humanoid robot hands equal to Optimus just five months later.
โโRather than build through legitimate innovation, trial, and technical rigor, Defendants took a shortcut: theftโ, the lawsuit says. โThey misappropriated Teslaโs most sensitive materials, sidestepped the laborious process of development, and launched a company based not on original discovery, but on stolen workโ.โ
Tesla has sued former engineer Zhongjie โJayโ Li, alleging he stole confidential Optimus-related information to start a rival firm, Proception Inc.
Li, who worked on advanced robotic hand sensors for Optimus, allegedly downloaded sensitive files before leaving Tesla in Septemberโฆ pic.twitter.com/8tufrSNkjD
โ The Humanoid Hub (@TheHumanoidHub) June 12, 2025
Tesla wants โcompensatory and exemplary damagesโ against Li, and an order keeping Li and his associates from using the companyโs trade secrets.
โโAlthough Tesla does not disclose the precise year-over-year investments in Optimus, the research and development costs are in the billions of dollarsโ, the lawsuit says. โSuch an ambitious project demands unparalleled expertise and substantial time and financial commitment to achieve even incremental progressโ.โ
According to Musk, the Optimus robot will be key to Teslaโs long-term health and growth.
โโMy prediction long-term is that Optimus will be overwhelmingly the value of the companyโ, Musk said at the time.โ
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The post BOT WARS: Tesla Sues Former Top Engineer for Theft of Trade Secrets in Development of Optimus Robot appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
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