Tesla filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Zhongjie “Jay” Li, a former engineer, accusing him of trade secret theft related to the company’s Optimus humanoid robotics program. The suit alleges Li used the stolen information to start Proception, a rival robotics startup.
The lawsuit, detailed by Bloomberg, claims Li stole secrets regarding Tesla’s “advanced robotic hand sensors.” Proception, backed by Y Combinator, is developing robotic hands. The suit states Li worked at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024.
According to the complaint, Li downloaded confidential Optimus data onto two personal smartphones. Tesla also alleges that in his final months at the company, Li researched “humanoid robotic hands” and sought information on venture capital and startup funding on his work computer.
The complaint further states, “Less than a week after he left Tesla, Proception was incorporated. 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.”
Steve Wozniak thinks Tesla is the worst for this particular reason
Proception’s website states its goal is to “revolutionize human-robot interaction by building the world’s most advanced humanoid hands.”
Tesla unveiled its plan to develop a humanoid robot, Tesla Bot, in 2021. In 2022, the company announced the bot’s expected introduction in 2023. However, Optimus remains under development. In July 2024, Elon Musk stated the company would begin selling the robot in 2026. At Tesla’s “We, Robot” event in October 2024, the Optimus bots present were largely controlled remotely by humans.
