Tesla accuses its former engineer of stealing trade secrets related to the development of robotic arms as part of the Optimus program. The company has now filed a lawsuit against engineer Zhongjie “Jay” Li, informs Bloomberg.
The complaint alleges that Lee, who worked for Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded confidential information about Optimus hand sensors to two of his personal smartphones. In addition, in the last months of his work, he conducted research on the topic of robotic hands and sources of venture capital from his work computer.
Less than a week after his dismissal, Lee registered the startup Proception. Five months later, the company announced the creation of “the most advanced humanoid hands” that resembled the ones he worked on at Tesla. The project received the support of the Y Combinator accelerator.
Proception’s website states that the company aims to “revolutionize human-robot interaction.” The Optimus program was first presented in 2021, and in 2024, Elon Musk announced that sales of the robots would begin in 2026. However, at the Tesla event in October 2024, the demonstrated models were still remotely controlled.
It will be recalled that on June 7, Milan Kovacs, the head of the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot program, announced his resignation from Tesla. According to the sources, he is leaving the company immediately, and his responsibilities will pass to Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s Autopilot team.
