Elon Musk's Tesla sues former Optimus robot engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets

Elon Musk’s Tesla is suing one of its former engineers for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to its highly anticipated Optimus humanoid robot.The defendant is Zhongjie “Jay” Li, who cofounded the humanoid robot startup Proception Inc. after working at Tesla from Aug. 2022 to Sept. 2024, according to the complaint filed in San Francisco federal court on Wednesday.The lawsuit alleges Li, who worked on “advanced robotic hand sensors—and was entrusted with some of the most sensitive technical data in the ...