Tesla sues former engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Optimus robot to launch rival startup

In a surprising turn of events, Elon Musk-led Tesla has filed a lawsuit against former engineer Zhongjie ‘Jay’ Li and his startup, Proception Inc., allegedly for stealing confidential information from its humanoid robot project, Optimus. The company filed the complaint in a federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Tesla files lawsuit against former employee

As reported by Bloomberg, the lawsuit claims that Li, who worked on "advanced robotic hand sensors," transferred confidential Optimus files onto two personal smartphones during his employment at Tesla between August 2022 and September 2024.

The complaint also says that in the last few months of his tenure, Li searched for "humanoid robotic hands" on his work computer and searched for venture capital and startup funding opportunities.

“Less than a week after he left Tesla, Proception was incorporated,” the complaint states. “And within just five months, Proception publicly claimed to have ‘successfully built’ advanced humanoid robotic hands -hands that bear a striking resemblance to the designs Li worked on at Tesla.”

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About the journey of Optimus

Tesla's humanoid robotics journey has faced several challenges after it was unveiled in 2021, when CEO Elon Musk introduced the Tesla Bot concept, later branded as Optimus.

Initially, the company hinted that the humanoid robot would debut alongside other products in 2023. However, progress has been slower than expected, with the Optimus robot still in the development stage.

In July 2024, Musk shared that Tesla is planning the commercial sales of the Optimus robot by 2026. 

Meanwhile, Tesla's "We, Robot" event in October 2024 showcased that Optimus robots were still largely operated by humans remotely, indicating that the technology remains a work in progress.

As charged by Tesla, Li's alleged theft of intellectual property could damage the company’s years of internal research and development invested in Optimus. 

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