Tesla Suing Ex-Optimus Engineer Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft
The Case of the ‘Hands-On’ Cowboy
Tesla Fires a Houdini
Zhongjie “Jay” Li has been on the wrong side of the law after Tesla sued him for allegedly snooping off its Optimus secrets and using them to launch a rival startup, Proception. The lawsuit was filed last Wednesday, following a Bloomberg report that tipped off the tech press.
Why the Handshake Matters
Li claimed he had the inside scoop on Tesla’s “advanced robotic hand sensors.” After all, a robot’s hand is as key to a humanoid as a baseball – it needs to grip, shake, and show off a bit of personality. Tesla alleges that Li pirated a torrent of confidential data on two personal smartphones during his 2022‑2024 stint.
From Workstation to Skyscraper
- While still at Tesla, Li spent time on employees’ computers researching “humanoid robotic hands.”
- He also scoured the internet for venture‑capital deals and how to raise a startup’s funding.
- According to the complaint, Proception was incorporated less than a week after Li left the company.
- Within five months, Proception announced it had “successfully built” advanced humanoid hands that look eerily similar to the prototypes Li was working on at Tesla.
- Proception claims its mission is to “revolutionize human‑robot interaction by building the world’s most advanced humanoid hands.”
Who’s Saying What?
TechCrunch reached out to both teams for clarifications, but still no official statements came out.
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Tesla’s Optimus Robot: The Long‑Game of a Humanoid Wonder
From Bold Beginnings to a Slow‑Mo Saga
Back in 2021, Tesla set the world on fire by announcing its first-ever humanoid robot – the Tesla Bot. It sounded like something straight out of a sci‑fi blockbuster, but reality proved to be far more clunky.
- In 2022, the company sweet‑talked that the bot, plus a handful of other new gizmos, would hit the market in 2023.
- Fast forward to today, and Optimus is still in the lab, tinkering and tweaking.
It’s almost like the robot’s got a stubborn attitude—it refuses to jump into the consumer scene despite the hype wave.
What the Boss Is Saying
Last July, Elon Musk dropped a bombshell: Tesla would start selling the robot in 2026. “We’re getting real this time,” he told reporters, while barely showing up for an event that followed in October.
At the “We, Robot” gala that month, the Optimus bots looked more like elaborate marionettes than fully autonomous machines. In fact, most of them were remote‑controlled from a distance, leaving the crowd wondering if the bot was ever truly on its own feet.
Skippin’ the “Happy‑Path” Timeline?
Each year, the promise of a sleek, self‑bewildering robot pulled back like a rubber band, only to snap back to 2026. Engineers appear to be stuck in a loop, working on power efficiency, safety, and a twitchy gyroscope that can’t keep a straight line.
Meanwhile, Musk keeps the ball rolling with teasing updates and stock‑pumping speculation, reminding us that patience has never been quite as important in tech as it is in real food.
Time to Get Real?
There’s no doubt that Optimus is that big, baffling project we all keep watching from our morning coffee corners. The future maybe seems a little far‑off, but the idea fuels our imagination. Until then, let’s just keep enjoying the quirky showcases and the occasional “remote‑controller” demonstration.