Tesla has recently sued former engineer Zhongjie “Jay” Li for allegedly stealing trade secrets and proprietary companies. In its complaint, the company alleges that he stole trade secrets related to the company’s advanced proprietary robotic hand sensors. Li’s tenure at Tesla ran from August 2022 to September 2024. During his stint at the company, he allegedly transferred sensitive data related to the tech giant’s Optimus project onto two personal cell phones.
In the months leading up to his departure, Li reportedly conducted significant research on “humanoid robotic hands” using his workplace computer. He ended up doing a lot of internet searches about venture capital and ways to fund your startup. This gave us pause about his motives even while he worked for the company.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against Li. It claims that he stole thousands of highly confidential, proprietary designs and information essential to Tesla’s cutting-edge innovations in robotics. Just days after leaving Tesla, Li was spurred to launch his own startup, Proception, which has been accepted into Y Combinator. The short timing between the birth of the startup and his departure—just six days—has further raised the ire of industry insiders.
Proception has repeatedly overstated its technological breakthroughs. According to the company, it has “successfully manufactured” advanced humanoid robotic hands six months after its founding. However, these designs often lack the superior dexterity that some reports show almost perfectly mimic the design produced by Li. He created like designs while at the helm of Tesla.
“successfully built” – the complaint
The complaint illustrates the ways in which Li’s behavior could sabotage Tesla’s distinct competitive advantage in the rapidly growing and relatively new area of robotics. Fulfilling the vision Tesla has created highly sophisticated robotic hand sensors that are key to super charging the potential of its Optimus robots. CEO Elon Musk said these kinds of robots would be ready to roll out in 2026.
As the case continues to play out, it has attracted interest from major media outlets, including Bloomberg and TechCrunch. Becca is a former senior writer at TechCrunch. From the VCs to the business models to the very nature of what makes a startup, she explains what this lawsuit means for these topics and more.
“revolutionize human-robot interaction by building the world’s most advanced humanoid hands” – Proception’s website
This legal battle has the potential to drastically alter the course of intellectual property rights in the technology sector. With companies like Tesla innovating at breakneck speed, the eventual outcome multiplies in importance. Protecting that trade secret The lawsuit against Li is a cautionary tale that illustrates the tension between employee mobility and corporate secrecy.
