Tesla is accusing a former employee of stealing trade secrets related to the development of robotic arms in the Optimus program. The lawsuit against engineer Zhongjie "Jay" Lee was filed on June 11, Bloomberg reports.
The complaint alleges that Lee, who worked at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded confidential information about Optimus hand sensors onto two personal smartphones. It also alleges that in the final months of his employment, he researched the topic of robotic hands and sources of venture capital funding from his work computer.
Less than a week after his dismissal, Lee registered a startup called Proception. Five months later, the company announced the creation of "the most advanced humanoid hands" similar to the ones he worked on at Tesla. The project is backed by the Y Combinator accelerator.
Proception's website states that the company aims to "revolutionize the interaction between humans and robots."
Recall that the Optimus program was first introduced in 2021, and in 2024, Elon Musk said that sales of robots would start in 2026. However, at the Tesla event in October 2024, the models demonstrated were still remotely controlled.
By the way, it recently became known that the head of the Optimus project is leaving his position.