Former Tesla employees brought stolen documents to self-driving startup Zoox

Tesla and self-driving startup Zoox have settled a trade secret lawsuit filed last year. Four former Tesla employees were accused of taking confidential documents to Zoox, which the startup admitted this week after the settlement. Self-driving startup Zoox has admitted that four of its employees took confidential documents from their previous employer Tesla, according to a statement issued after the company settled a lawsuit this week over the matter.

Founded in 2014, Zoox’s plan has been to build self-driving vehicles from the ground up that were more purpose-built and far more maneuverable than traditional vehicles retrofitted with autonomous tech. Its tech has been praised by many, and the company raised $500 million in July 2018 on the way to a $3 billion valuation. But just one month later, its board of directors pushed out co-founder and CEO Tim Kentley-Klay.

(He was replaced with Intel’s former chief of strategy, Aicha Evans, who is still Zoox’s CEO.) The settlement now comes as Zoox has laid off around 100 full-time employees, as well as contract workers, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: theverge.com