Tesla sues ex-employee over Optimus robot trade secret theft
13 Jun 2025

Tesla has sued its former engineer, Zhongjie "Jay" Li, for allegedly stealing trade secrets from the company's humanoid robotics program, Optimus.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this week in a San Francisco federal court.

It accuses Li of using this confidential information to launch his own start-up called Proception, a Y Combinator-backed company building robotic hands.

Details of the complaint
Trade secret theft

The lawsuit claims that Li, who worked on "advanced robotic hand sensors," downloaded confidential Optimus files onto two personal smartphones during his employment at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024.

The complaint also says that in the last few months of his tenure, Li searched for "humanoid robotic hands" on his work computer and looked up venture capital and other funding sources for start-ups.

Proception was incorporated a week after Li left Tesla
Start-up launch

The lawsuit notes that Proception was incorporated less than a week after Li left Tesla.

Within five months, the start-up claimed to have "successfully built" advanced humanoid robotic hands that looked similar to those developed by Li at Tesla.

Proception's website states the company is working on "revolutionizing human-robot interaction by building the world's most advanced humanoid hands."

Tesla seeks compensatory damages from Li
Lawsuit details

Tesla has responded to the allegations by filing a lawsuit against Li and Proception.

The company is seeking unspecified "compensatory and exemplary damages" from Li, as well as an injunction preventing him and his associates from using any of Tesla's trade secrets.

The lawsuit also requests a jury trial in the case.