Elon Musk-led company Tesla has filed 2 lawsuits on Wednesday against its former employees and the self-driving startup Zoox for leaking the company’s logistics secrets. Highly placed sources say that one of the employees of Zoox also stole an Autopilot source code and sold it to Chinese company Xiaopeng Motors.
Cybersecurity Insiders has learned that 4 former employees of the startup were involved in the leak of trade secrets which includes R&D info, logistics, and data related to inventory control operations. Later they all made a deal with Chinese electric automaker Xiaopeng Motors or XPeng and news are out that they sold the secrets to the electric car maker for a fancy price.
Zoox’s 4 employee names include Scott Turner, Sydney Cooper, Christian Dement, and Craig Emigh and Tesla alleges that those involved in the deed have done with deliberate and malicious intentions.
Stolen info includes details related to the WARP system which is a proprietary software platform used to manage manufacturing, warehousing, inventory, distribution, and transportation.
Tesla has warned that all the data is patented on its name and so no company in the world can use it without prior permission.
Zoox is the name of the California based startup which is reported to be funded by Xpeng and formed for the 4 former Tesla executives to operate. Its name was spun from the name of one of the lady employees of the company. Currently, the vehicles launched by the company are restricted from moving on public roads due to licensing issues.
Toyota Highlanders are the only international brand which is using the self-driving system of Zoox and has been testing the technology on the roads of San Francisco’s Financial District and North Beach.
Tesla is serious about the developments and so is working to corner the self-driving technology development company from all 4 corners.
As the lawsuit is said to tarnish the image of Zoox badly the startup is looking to settle the dispute amicably.
