Tesla (TSLA) Sues Former Engineer Over Alleged Data Theft and Startup Rivalry

Jun 12, 2025

Tesla (TSLA, Financial) has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court in San Francisco against its former engineer, Zhongjie Jay Li, for allegedly stealing confidential information related to the company's Optimus robot project. Tesla claims that Li, who worked on robot hand sensors from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded sensitive data onto personal devices before leaving the company. Shortly after his departure, Li founded a competing startup, Proception Inc., in Silicon Valley.

The lawsuit alleges that Proception quickly developed its own humanoid robot hand technology, which closely resembles the projects Li was involved with at Tesla. Tesla is seeking legal action for breach of confidentiality and misappropriation of trade secrets.

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