Self-driving startup Zoox ended up losing in a lawsuit filed by Tesla. Tesla sued the startup company over trade secret theft. Engadget reports Zoox having over a hundred ex-Tesla employees. This data was gathered in Spring 2019 and has not undergone another survey to check whether or not more Tesla workers jumped ship. In a detailed report by MarketWatch, it turns out that this lawsuit was filed last year. The court statement gave details on Tesla’s former employees joining Zoox and bringing proprietary information. These stolen documents were used as a basis to cover shipping and warehouse processes for the startup company.
Zoox acknowledged this, stating that some of their new logistics recruits did possess Tesla documents and that they also used it.
On Tuesday, Zoox said they would settle the case with an undisclosed monetary payment to Tesla. They also informed the public that Zoox is to undergo an audit to ensure that none of their employees are using confidential Tesla information. They are now making sure that none of their employees possess Tesla documents. The documents sued for all pertain to shipping, receiving, and warehouse procedures by former Tesla workers who joined Zoox’s logistics team.
The company, who is planning to build an electric robo-taxi in the future, regrets the actions of its employees.
Engadget and MarketWatch predict that lawsuits such as Tesla vs. Zoox’s trade secret theft are not the last of its kind. After all, the autonomous driving field is still narrow. Hence, the competition is stiff.