Skip to Content
Silicon Valley

Tesla files a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly leaking confidential IP

June 20, 2018

Over the weekend CEO Elon Musk sent a company-wide e-mail indicating that Tesla had been “sabotaged” by a former employee. Today, Tesla filed a whopper of a lawsuit against a former worker who it suspects shared information.

The news:  Tesla’s federal suit alleges that Martin Tripp, a previous Gigafactory technician, leaked confidential information about the company to outside parties.

The lawsuit details: The lawsuit alleges that Tripp ...

     —  “Admitted to writing software that hacked Tesla’s manufacturing operating system (‘MOS’) and to transferring several gigabytes of Tesla data to outside entities.” Included in that information are “dozens of confidential photographs and a video of Tesla’s manufacturing systems.”
     —  Spread false information to the media. For example, according to the suit, he “falsely claimed that Tesla was delayed in bringing new manufacturing equipment online.”

Why it matters: This is the latest in a string of employment-related developments at Tesla, including a recent reorganization that reduced the workforce by 9 percent and allegations of unsafe conditions in the gigafactory. With this, Tesla looks to move away from a defensive PR strategy with a not-so-subtle message to current workers about potential consequences for leaking.  

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.