Tesla is suing a recently hired software engineer, Alex Khatilov, who the company claims stole critical automation software from its WARP Drive ERP system, according to tech news site Electrek.
Tesla hired the defendant as a software automation engineer on Dec. 28, 2020, Tesla wrote in the lawsuit.
Within three days, he began stealing thousands of highly confidential software files from Tesla’s secure internal network, transferring them to his personal cloud storage account on Dropbox.
The files in question consisted of “scripts” of proprietary software code that Tesla had spent years building.
These scripts, when executed, automate various functions throughout Tesla’s business. Only a few Tesla employees had access to these files.
As a member of that group, the defendant used that access to obtain downloadable files that were not related to his work.
Tesla is seeking a damages determination at trial and an injunction from the court prohibiting the defendant from sharing any information with other parties.
