Startup Zoox Acknowledges Some Employees Were In Possession Of Tesla Confidential Information

Silicon Valley-based startup Zoox on Tuesday agreed for reconciliation with Tesla Inc. TSLA over the latter's claims of wrongful possession of proprietary information.

What Happened

In March 2019, Tesla had charged four of its former employees and Zoox of stealing confidential information and trade secrets for developing warehousing, logistics, and inventory control operations, the New York Times reported.

Under the settlement, Zoox would be directed to pay an undisclosed amount to Tesla, and their employees would be checked for preserving any classified information of the company.

"Zoox acknowledges that certain of its new hires from Tesla were in possession of Tesla documents pertaining to shipping, receiving, and warehouse procedures when they joined Zoox's logistics team, and Zoox regrets the actions of those employees," the company said.

Why It Happened

Zoox had earlier said that it expects to begin testing its own robo-taxi service and also seeks to build a vehicle that can travel in both forward and reverse directions without needing to turn around, The Verge reported.

Companies similar to Zoox are on the run to develop technology that would remove the need for cars to be driven by humans. Lawsuits against former employees are commonly occurring as companies try to secure their in-house research, the New York Times reported.  

Big names like Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, Aptiv PLC APTV, Baidu Inc. BIDU have successfully developed autonomous vehicle technology, and except Alphabet, others are offering driverless rides to customers in many cities across the world.