🔥 Premium AI-powered Stock Picks from InvestingPro Now up to 50% OffCLAIM SALE

Tesla settles with engineer accused of taking AI trade secrets

Published 04/19/2023, 04:25 PM
Updated 04/19/2023, 07:10 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Tesla logo on the hood of a car in Oslo, Norway November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty
TSLA
-

(Corrects typo in lead paragraph)

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc has settled a lawsuit against one of its former engineers, Alexander Yatskov, whom it accused of stealing trade secrets related to its AI-training supercomputer Dojo, according to a filing on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court.

The joint filing said the terms of the settlement were confidential but Yatskov would make a monetary payment to the company.

Representatives for both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Yatskov was a thermal engineer working on Dojo, a supercomputer that Tesla said in its lawsuit would "help solve difficult engineering problems, such as vehicle autonomy." The company said it had hired Yatskov last January and that he had resigned that May after being put on administrative leave.

Tesla sued Yatskov that month for allegedly keeping confidential information about Dojo on his personal computer. The lawsuit also alleged Yatskov had provided a "dummy" computer for Tesla to investigate to "cover his tracks."

Yatskov previously told the court that Tesla had filed the lawsuit during his last day of work and that he had turned over the company's materials after he left.

According to the Wednesday filing, Yatskov admitted to transferring confidential Tesla information to his personal computer during his employment, but said that he only had kept it for work purposes and had sought to delete it after the work was finished.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Tesla logo on the hood of a car in Oslo, Norway November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty

A San Francisco federal judge sent the case to arbitration last August, rejecting Yatskov's plea to keep it in federal court so he could publicly contest Tesla's claims, which the engineer described as "humiliating."

(This story has been corrected to fix a typo in paragraph 1)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.