Tesla sues engineer for allegedly stealing data and Autopilot source code before joining Chinese self-driving car firm Xiaopeng Motors
- Xiaopeng says it was not aware of engineer’s alleged misconduct and the company has started an internal investigation
- Four other former employees were also sued for allegedly stealing proprietary information and trade secrets
Tesla filed a lawsuit on Thursday against a former engineer at the company, claiming he copied the source code for its Autopilot technology before joining a Chinese self-driving car start-up in January.
The engineer, Guangzhi Cao, copied more than 300,000 files related to Autopilot source code as he prepared to join China’s Xiaopeng Motors Technology Company Ltd, the Silicon Valley carmaker said in the lawsuit filed in a California court.
Separately, Tesla lawyers on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against four former employees and US self-driving car start-up Zoox Inc, alleging the employees stole proprietary information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics and inventory control operations.
In a statement, Xiaopeng spokeswoman Marie Cheung said the company was not aware of Cao’s alleged misconduct and that the company has started an internal investigation on the matter.
The company “fully respects any third-party’s intellectual property rights and confidential information. The company has been complying and will comply all applicable laws and regulations,” she said in a statement.
Cao and Zoox could not immediately be reached for comment.