Tesla Inc. sued a previous engineer saying he illegally transferred confidential information and facts on its supercomputer know-how to his possess computer and turned about a “dummy” laptop for inspection to go over up the theft.
Tesla is producing an in-property supercomputer, dubbed Venture Dojo, to offer with huge quantities of info, which include movie from Tesla automobiles, and employing it to make autonomous driving application. Alexander Yatskov was employed in January as a thermal engineer to support layout cooling systems for the personal computer, which generates a ton of warmth, Tesla explained in the complaint.
“These thermal styles and knowledge are confidential and tightly guarded inside Tesla,” the electrical-car or truck maker said.
But Tesla reported Yatskov admitted to downloading confidential data from his Tesla equipment to his own devices, right after he was confronted. He turned over a “dummy” computer for inspection by Tesla to attempt and address his tracks, the organization mentioned.
Yatskov quit on May 2 and has refused to return the information and facts, Tesla reported in the complaint.
When achieved by telephone, Yatskov claimed he was not informed of the complaint and declined to promptly remark on it.
Tesla also accused Yatskov of lying in his resume about his knowledge and perform encounter. He also breached a non-disclosure arrangement that barred him from disclosing trade techniques, Tesla stated.
“This is a case about illicit retention of trade strategies by an personnel who, in his limited time at Tesla, previously shown a track document of lying and then lying yet again by giving a ‘dummy’ gadget to test and cover his tracks,” Tesla claimed in its grievance.
Tesla is searching for compensatory and exemplary damages and an buy that would halt Yatskov from disseminating its trade techniques and immediate him to return all proprietary data.
The situation is Tesla Inc. v. Yatskov, 5:22-cv-02725, U.S. District Court docket, Northern District of California (San Jose).