Tesla lawsuit alleges Autopilot source code copied

Tesla has filed a lawsuit against a former employee, alleging the person copied the source code for its Autopilot technology before joining a Chinese autonomous vehicle (AV) start-up.

Former Tesla engineer Guangzhi Cao copied more than 300,000 files related to the Autopilot source code as he prepared to join China’s Xiaopeng Motors, Tesla claims in the lawsuit filed in a California court.

Separately, Tesla lawyers filed a lawsuit against four former employees and US AV start-up Zoox, alleging the employees stole proprietary information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics and inventory control operations, Reuters reports.

Xiaopeng spokeswoman Marie Cheung says the company has begun an internal investigation but was unaware of Cao’s alleged misconduct.

The company “fully respects any third-party’s intellectual property rights and confidential information. The company has been complying with and will comply with all applicable laws and regulations,” Cheung says.

Cao and Zoox could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.

Tesla is building a vehicle assembly plant in Shanghai, putting it in direct competition with Xiaopeng and other Chinese companies in the world’s largest EV market.

Its Autopilot driver assistance system handles a few driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel in some areas, although Tesla stresses it still requires driver supervision and does not make the vehicle autonomous.

Cao’s LinkedIn profile shows he has been working with Xiaopeng since January as “head of perception”.

Xiaopeng debuted an electric car in Las Vegas last year.

The company, also known as Xpeng Motors, has at least five former Tesla employees, Tesla alleges in the lawsuit.

Apple last year accused one former employee of stealing trade secrets related to AVs and joining Xiaopeng’s US subsidiary.

Lawsuits against former employees are becoming more frequent as firms strive to keep proprietary information in-house.

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle unit took Uber to court after a former employee allegedly stole thousands of confidential documents and became chief of Uber’s self-driving car project, Reuters adds. Uber later paid US$245 million to settle.