Tesla escalates battle against Chinese EV maker Xpeng over alleged theft of robocar secrets
- Tesla alleges that an engineer stole Autopilot secrets before bolting to Chinese start-up Xpeng
- Guangzhou-based Xpeng has called the claims ‘questionable’, and denies wrongdoing
As Tesla tries to amass proof in its lawsuit portraying the engineer as a traitor, it is asking a judge to force the Guangzhou, China-based maker of Tesla lookalike electric cars to disclose its autonomous-driving source code, turn over images of computer hard drives and even make an employee available for an interview.
Xpeng, which is not a defendant in the suit, and the two engineers all have denied wrongdoing. Xpeng and the former Apple engineer are resisting Tesla’s demands for more information, calling them improper intrusions in court filings.
“Tesla’s latest demands crossed the line, seeking to rummage through our IP (intellectual property) on Tesla’s terms – and smearing us along the way with misrepresentations and innuendo,” a spokesperson for Xpeng’s US research arm, XMotors, said in a statement. Tesla’s attempt to tie the two Chinese engineers together is “peddling speculation and stereotypes,” according to the statement.
Hearings on Tesla’s subpoenas are set for May in San Francisco federal court.